What If
by Numinex
Summary: Following the return of his powers and the defeat of Ginjo, Ichigo finds himself thrust back into normal life, but something is still missing. With the end of High School fast approaching, Ichigo needs to figure out what he wants in life. SPOILERS (Fullbring Arc) If you haven't watched the anime/read the manga. IchiRuki. Rated M to be on the safe side.
1. Detention

Detention...again.

Ichigo sighed and slumped back in his chair, for a moment he just stared at the ceiling tiles. All he could hear and all he had heard for the past thirty-seven minutes was the steady ticking of the clock on the wall, and the faint scratching of Ochi-sensei's pen on paper. He closed his eyes and tried to shut the noise out, but it was no good.

_Tick, Tick, Tick. _

Ichigo sat up, taking a deep breath and removing as much of a frown from his face as he could. It was pleading time. "Ahh, Ochi-sensei, I'm sorry okay? Please, this is clearly a waste of both of our time" he said, it was the first thing that came to his mind and as soon as he had said it he remembered that pleading wasn't his strong suit.

Ochi-sensei set down her pen and looked at him over the top of her glasses. "What's _clear _Kurosaki is that while you are completely fine with wasting _my _time, you don't like it when it's the other way around". She kept her unusually stern gaze on Ichigo until he wilted and went back to brooding.

Ichigo huffed and turned to look out the window. It was the tenth of July, five days before Ichigo turned eighteen and nearly three months since he had got his powers back and defeated Ginjo. Even though it was getting late it must be still hot, he thought, maybe not as suffocating as the classroom he was sitting in, but based on what the girls outside were wearing it must be...wait, what? Ichigo gave himself a mental slapping.

_Where did that come from? That's not like me. _

Putting it down to sheer boredom he instead looked at the flawless blue sky, it reminded him of Soul Society. He found himself wishing more than ever to escape this classroom. Anywhere was better than here. Ochi-sensei had always been a pushover in the past, but now her students were approaching their final term she seemed to be having a crackdown. Apparently skipping a class, _or five_, on a weekly basis wasn't becoming of a high-school student in his final year.

Ichigo didn't see it that way, as far as he was concerned it was all stupid. School, University, Careers, regular people's lives had become an object of disgust for him now. When he was fifteen years old he had stormed two separate dimensions and saved the mortal world from untold horrors, but here he was nearly eighteen and he was being made to sit in a scorching room for an indefinite amount of time just because he missed a few hours of pointless, monotonous note taking.

_Eighteen, there's that number again. _

Turning eighteen really didn't appeal to Ichigo, at least he didn't seem to think it was the huge deal all his friends had made it out to be. All it allowed him to do was drive, and when you can flash step, driving just seemed...sluggish.

The truth was, those brief moments when the combat pass lit up and Ichigo skipped class to fight a Hollow were the only highlights in his day. He felt stupid just for thinking that, he shouldn't _want _a hollow to appear, but he couldn't help it. And despite his better judgement, they were becoming rarer and as a result he had started dragging the fights out for his own amusement.

_I must be more like Kenpachi than I thought. _

Four-fourty-six. Ichigo had to get out of this room.

"Please Ochi-sensei, we've both got lives outside of this place..." he said, now Ichigo should have left it at that, but then he added "...right?"

_Smooth Ichigo! _

His teacher was now just staring daggers at him, he had blown it for good now and might as well curl up under his desk, as it looked like that would be where he was going to be spending the night. To his amazement however she just sighed and threw her pen down.

"Oh fine! Go!" she dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

Ichigo shot out of his chair so fast it nearly toppled over, he checked himself and tried to curb his enthusiasm as much as possible, even though he felt like diving headlong out the window. He collected his bag and made for the door as calmly as possible, which was still only just on the slower side of jogging.

He was reaching for the door handle when Ochi-sensei's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"I'm warning you though Kurosaki, you should be preparing for your final exams and applying to schools, not running off doing...whatever it is you've been doing, understand?"

Ichigo turned to face her, "Y..yes Sensei" he spluttered, inclining his head slightly as he did so.

She turned away from him, "Now go, wouldn't want to keep you from that bustling social life of yours!"

Ichigo nearly fell over, was she mocking him? He had no answer for that, so Instead he just shuffled backwards out of the room and shut the door.

He sighed once again and rubbed his eyes, despite his eagerness to escape the classroom, where was it he was in a hurry to get to exactly? Home? Nope, he didn't particularly want to spend more time around his father than necessary, ever since Aizen's defeat and learning the truth about Isshin, it had made things more awkward and unbearable than before. Besides, even if old Goatface wasn't home, all he had to look forward to was sitting in his room, waiting for the combat pass to scream at him. If Ochi-sensei was mocking him, she was bang on.

Ichigo set off, his footsteps echoing down the empty corridor. He checked his watch, it was too late for any after school activities, not that Ichigo felt like running around in this heat anyway. Tatsuki might still be around, or maybe he could just go for a walk.

As soon as Ichigo stepped outside he immediately wished he was back in the classroom. He was wrong, it was _much_ hotter out here, like walking into a wall of solid heat. He almost considered getting detention again. Deciding there was nothing for it but to head home, he started his walk back to the clinic.

It wasn't a particularly long walk, but long enough in this heat. He seemed to be the only one to mind though, he could hear people laughing and chatting, generally enjoying life and why not? The sun was shining, School was nearly out for the summer and after that it was only one more term before High-school was out completely. He turned onto the main road and traffic was at a standstill, which just made it seem hotter. Even so, everyone seemed calm, there were no horns or shouting, just normal people making their way home.

As he walked Ichigo once again found his attention turning to the girls around him, they really weren't wearing much and despite what Ichigo kept telling himself, he liked it. For the first time in his life he was noticing this stuff, but he wasn't in a hurry for everyone to know that. He knew the other guys like Mizuiro and Keigo thought he was weird, but that was fine with him. Unfortunately his father seemed to be able to sense it, which just made the strained relationship even more...violent. Ichigo could picture him now, spouting some triumphant speech about his son coming of age, tears of pride streaming down his face.

So lost was Ichigo in his horrifying thoughts that he walked straight into someone coming out the grocery store. Everything happened in a split second, but that was long enough for Ichigo's heightened reaction times to kick in and realise what had happened. He caught hold of the person he had nearly knocked over with one hand, and with his other, grasped the handle of a dropped carrier bag, stopping its fall inches from the pavement, letting his own school bag crash to the floor instead.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted the numerous cartons of eggs in the shopping bag. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention..." he started to apologise when he looked up. Orihime was blushing furiously, very aware of Ichigo's arm wrapped around her. "I..Inoue" Ichigo said awkwardly, now very aware of how close they were.

"...Hi" she replied breathlessly. They just stood like that for a second, then Ichigo reacted as if struck by lightning.

"Inoue!" he said again, except much higher in pitch, as he jumped away from her "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going" he held up the saved groceries "Here, this is yours".

She took the bag from him, still not entirely sure what just happened. "Thank you, Kurosaki-kun", she muttered, then just stood staring at the floor for quite some time.

Ichigo studied her still crimson face. "Are you okay Inoue?" he asked after some time, his voice seemed to snap her out of her trance.

"Oh, I'm fine, thanks to you" she breathed, looking at him as if seeing him for the first time, then realisation dawned, "Are you just getting out? Did Ochi-sensei keep you behind again?"

Ichigo sighed "Yeah, she's getting really strict lately"

Orihime beamed back "She just wants us all to get into good schools, but I think everyone is too excited about summer, do you have any plans Kurosaki-kun?"

It was Ichigo's turn to study the floor while he thought about that for a second. Soul Society didn't need invading again, what else did people do on summer vacation? He tried to remember summer break from the previous year, but like everything from before he got his powers back, he had done his best to forget about that horrible seventeen months.

Orihime took advantage of his distraction, turning to her reflection in the shop window she rapidly smoothed down her hair and clothes and checked she had nothing between her teeth, turning back just as Ichigo looked back up.

"Can't say I've thought about it that much" he replied honestly with a shrug, "Anyway, don't you have some shopping to do or something?". Ichigo cursed inwardly, he really didn't mean that to be as rude as it had sounded but he suddenly felt the intense need to put some distance between himself and her, however Orihime didn't seem to notice.

"Nope! I'm all done!" she beamed, leaving her sentence hanging in the air. Ichigo wasn't a world expert of women, far from it in fact, but he did know what he was expected to say in this situation.

"Did err...did you want me to walk you home?" he managed, sounding as genuine as he could. "I mean, I'm heading that way so..."

"Only if its not too much trouble!" she shrieked and trotted happily down the street. Ichigo just hung his head in defeat, before starting after her.

* * *

They walked at a leisurely pace, Orihime was certainly in no rush as she chatted about school, friends, obscure food and the summer vacation. Ichigo nodded and grunted where appropriate but he was only half listening.

As the sun began to drop, casting everything in an orange glow, mercifully so did the temperature. It was a pleasant evening. It was only when they turned onto the street where Orihime lived did she say something that snapped Ichigo from his thoughts.

"Are you okay, Kurosaki-kun?" she asked, a serious expression on her face.

Ichigo was a little taken aback. "I'm fine Inoue, why wouldn't I be?".

She tilted her head, as if trying to determine whether he was being honest or not. It made Ichigo a little uneasy. As if reading his thoughts she blushed and looked away. "Its just that you've been very distant lately..." she started in a voice that Ichigo had to strain to hear. She looked up at him through strands of stray auburn hair. "If there was ever anything wrong, you know you can talk to me, right?"

Ichigo was suddenly feeling very awkward, more so than when he had had his arm around her which was saying something, he put his best scowl on and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Yeah Inoue I know, don't worry I'm fine" he replied as bluntly as he could without being a jerk, he wanted to nip this conversation in the bud.

Orihime nodded, not believing a word. "Well, you know where I am, its just we're friends and..." she suddenly started to stammer, struggling to get the words out. "Well, I like to think that maybe...its just that...". Finally, unable to put into words what she was trying to say, it all just fell apart and she started to babble. "Oh look its my house, I should get this stuff in the fridge, well I'll see you later Kurosaki-kun, thank you for walking me home...". That was the last part Ichigo managed to catch before it descended into rapid nonsense. She was still yammering on as she scrambled up the steps and through her front door.

Ichigo stood in the street, trying to make sense of the conversation he'd just had. With yet another sigh he decided he was just too tired to worry about it and headed for his house just a few more blocks away.

* * *

A few hours later, Ichigo was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. This was how it carried on, night after night. He couldn't settle to anything, his mind was a constant battlefield, in stark contrast to his actual life. He closed his eyes, his mind drifting to the noises he could hear out of his window, which was wide open as it had been for weeks as this heatwave refused to let up. Even in the relative cool of the night, it was uncomfortably hot.

He could hear young voices, children playing, every so often he would hear Yuzu. She sounded happy, he really should make a point of asking her how school was going. Ichigo knew he was being distant, not just from his friends but from his family as well, he didn't need Orihime to point it out. Karin shrugged off his despondence with casual indifference, but poor Yuzu seemed to take it personally and Ichigo hated himself for that.

With a groan, Ichigo pushed himself up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He sat there for what must have been ten minutes, staring at the closet door. He didn't know why he did it, but it just made him feel better. At least it did until a nearby voice shattered the quiet.

"Stare at the door all you like, Nee-san isn't going to jump out!"

Ichigo jumped two feet straight up at the voice. Kon was stood on Ichigo's desk, a look of exaggerated sadness on his face.

"She never comes round any more" he whined dramatically, "Its like she doesn't care about me at all!"

Ichigo grabbed the plush lion roughly by the head and held him at eye level."How many times Kon! Don't fucking sneak up on me like that!".

Kon pedalled his arms and legs in mid air, tears still streaming down his face. "I wasn't sneaking! I've been sat here _literally_ the whole time you have, you're just too busy brooding to notice me...". Ichigo had heard enough and threw him back on the desk.

Kon however, decided to push his luck."And it's not just me Ichigo, you don't notice anything any more! You push your family away, your friends, what is your deal anyway?", he crossed his little arms across his chest and turned his back on Ichigo. "Personally I could take you or leave you, but little Yuzu seems attached to you, even though you're a lousy brother...Hey!"

Kon was cut off as Ichigo grabbed the plush Lion by his tail and stuffed him into the desk drawer. Ichigo slammed the drawer shut and flopped back onto the bed with a sigh. He could still hear a muffled voice from the drawer but he couldn't make out what Kon was saying. Ichigo raised a fist to bang against the desk but was interrupted by another irritating, but much more welcome noise.

Shriek! Shriek! Shriek!

The combat pass was on the desk, eyes flashing intently.

"About fucking time" Ichigo muttered to himself. He wasted no time in grabbing it and pressing it to his chest. There was a slight moment of vertigo as he transferred into his spirit form, his now lifeless body crashing back onto the bed.

Ichigo pulled Kon from the desk draw and pinned him to the table with one hand, Kon was still hurling abuse right up until Ichigo used his other hand to retrieve the pill from the plush toy. "Alright, alright, you can hang out in my body for a bit" he said, dropping the pill into what was technically his own mouth. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" he warned.

Kon laughed, "Like what? Talk to your family? Hang out with your friends? Smile!?"

Ichigo turned his back, he really didn't need abuse from his own body. "Hold that thought, gotta go" he said, heading for the open window.

Moments later, Ichigo was hurtling through the sky, rooftops flashing by beneath his feet. This was more like it, Ichigo loved the wind in his hair, feeling his reiatsu pulsing through his body and Zangetsu's reassuring weight on his back.

_How can technically being dead make you feel so alive?_

He could feel the Hollow's dark taint nearby, this wouldn't take long.

* * *

Okay, first fic but lay it on me I can take it! It might be a long one, sorry If the start seems a little slow, I hope it will be worth it.

Thanks!


	2. The Truth Hurts

Despite his best intentions, it was fully dark when Ichigo returned home.

_Where is Kon!? _

Ichigo looked around the dark room, he could just make out the display on the digital clock, it read 10:22. Not exactly late, but later than Ichigo should have been. The Hollow was a fair distance away, but even still Ichigo had dragged the fight out, playing with the beast for his own amusement.

He never thought twice about it at the time, but he was always ashamed afterwards. There once was a time he would kill it instantly and be done with it. Rukia would be horrified.

_Rukia..._

Ichigo suddenly felt like he had been kicked in the gut and shook her image from his mind, blaming guilt, tiredness and Hollows for making him think about her. After that was done he headed downstairs and found Kon on the sofa in front of the television, he was about to yell at the mod soul when Kon turned to him and put his finger to his lips, he then pointed down. Ichigo moved closer and stopped when he saw Yuzu asleep in his lap, smiling away to herself.

Some guilt joined the shame he was feeling.

"She just wanted a cuddle" Kon whispered "Couldn't exactly push her away, I know she should be in bed but it was..."

"Its okay" Ichigo cut him off, crouching down to look at her face. "Where's Dad?" he asked, glancing up at Kon.

Kon answered with only a shrug.

"Okay" Ichigo nodded and smiled, "Switch back with me will ya?"

Ichigo sat with Yuzu for a time, hating with himself for not being able to ever remember doing this. He then picked her up and carried her to her room, she was already in her pyjamas which was helpful. Placing her gently on her bed and covering her over he stepped back and looked at her.

_You need to snap out of this Ichigo, its pathetic. _

It only then dawned on him that she was wearing Rukia's pyjamas, well they were technically Yuzu's first but they were Rukia's nonetheless. He felt that pang in his gut again, but it definitely wasn't guilt or shame, those two he knew well, this feeling was foreign, yet familiar at the same time.

"I must finally be cracking up" he whispered to himself. He closed the door and headed for his own bed, now feeling very tired indeed.

* * *

The next morning seemed to come around all too quickly. Ichigo was vaguely aware of the alarm going off as he rolled over. He sat up and felt the breeze on his face from the open window, it was cooler today, but not by much. He had dreamt about Rukia, he didn't know why, possibly it was the Hollow and seeing Yuzu into those yellow Pyjamas, but it reminded him of something he had to do today nonetheless.

He was soaked in sweat so he headed for a long shower before joining the others for breakfast. Ichigo stood in the shower, letting the water wash the night away.

_Today will be different. _

"Morning Ichi-nii!" Yuzu beamed when he arrived downstairs for breakfast, "Sleep well?"

It was the same greeting every morning, but instead of Ichigo's usual grunt, he smiled at her and gave her a proper response, "Very well, thanks"

Yuzu was stunned into silence, even Karin looked up from her breakfast. Ichigo took his place at the table across from the girls.

"Still no Dad?" he said as indifferently as he could.

"Found a note saying not to worry, he must have left really early" Karin said, dismissing their fathers absence with a wave of her hand.

"Fair enough" Ichigo replied between mouthfuls of the rice Yuzu had just given him.

"Dont talk with your mouth full Ichi-nii!" she scolded him.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and was finishing off his breakfast when his phone beeped. "That'll be the guys, gotta go, thanks for breakfast!" he called as he grabbed his bag and headed for the door.

"Bye Ichi-nii, have a good day!" Yuzu called after him.

Keigo and Mizuiro were waiting for him outside, as was customary on a school morning.

Speaking of customary.

"Hey Ichigo!" Keigo cried jumping onto his taller friends back.

"Hey" Ichigo grunted, not having the energy to throw Keigo off, he continued walking with his friend balanced precariously on his shoulders. Mizuiro greeted Ichigo with a smile.

"Morning Ichigo, the girls went on ahead" he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. Mention of "The girls" perked Keigo up, who leapt from Ichigo's shoulders and fell into step between his two friends.

"Say Ichigo, heard Inoue telling Tatsuki that you walked her home last night!" he started, using the girls names without the honorific in their absence. Clearly thinking it was a massive deal, he waiting for Ichigo to 'spill the beans'. He was to be disappointed.

"Yeah, so?" Ichigo replied bluntly, he really didn't like where this conversation was headed, he knew well how Keigo could obsess over this stuff.

Keigo drooped, but recovered quickly, coming up on Ichigo's other side. "So..." he continued, "You gonna put the moves on her or what? Huh? Huh?" he said, elbowing Ichigo in the ribs suggestively.

"What!?" Ichigo exploded. "Don't start that shit, why would you suggest that?".

Keigo looked dumbfounded. "Why? WHY!? Because she's a goddess!" he exclaimed, dramatic tears welling in his eyes. "I don't get it, you get the attention of all the pretty girls, first Rukia-chan now Inoue..."

Ichigo turned away and grunted in annoyance. Today was headed in a downward tumble already and they weren't even at school yet. They walked for perhaps ten minutes in silence, but Keigo looked fit to burst, it was obvious he wasn't done yet. Suddenly he couldn't take it any more.

"And she likes you man!", he exclaimed, clearly recovered from his tantrum, "Its so obvious, I'm telling you, you're in there!".

Mizuiro decided now was the time to weigh in. "As much as I hate to agree with him, he is right, she does seem very enamored with you"

"We're friends, have been for a very long time" Ichigo snapped back, brooding now, he was looking at the pavement with his fringe covering his eyes.

"So you've never had, _those _thoughts...?" Keigo continued, bending awkwardly in an attempt to get eye-to-eye with Ichigo, "All the time you've spent together, everything you've been through and you've never _once_ thought about it?". Keigo looked like he was about to burst into tears again.

"No, now can we drop this please?" Ichigo was desperate to end this conversation, especially as the nearer they got to school, the amount of students would steadily increase. It wouldn't take much for someone to realize what they were talking about and then the rumours would start. It was then that Ichigo remembered that Mizuiro was present, so rumours were no doubt already in circulation.

Mizuiro caught on, "Might want to let it go Asano-san" he said, digging out his phone which was beeping in this pocket.

Keigo dropped the volume but not the subject, "I don't get it man, your not even a _little _interested...?" he muttered close to Ichigo's shoulder.

"Pass" was all Ichigo could muster, the only other alternative was punching him square in the face, and it was becoming more and more tempting.

It was Keigo's turn to explode, "PASS!? Did I just hear you right!?" he screamed.

Ichigo rounded on him. "Would you shut the fuck up screaming like that so early? People are looking!" he yelled back, none too quietly himself.

It was true, students were looking at them, even some from their year. Mizuiro had by now separated himself from the pair and had become very interested in his phone. Even still, Keigo was not put off.

"Ichigo, as your friend, and as a _man_, I'm telling you that you _have _to do this" he said, very seriously.

Ichigo ground his teeth together. How quickly a day could go from good to bad was amazing. "I dont have to do anything!" he said in a hushed but very serious tone as he rounded on Keigo once more. "But what you _have _to do is drop it and shut up!".

Keigo seemed to get the message this time, Ichigo's tone was crystal clear and he had murder in his eyes. Ichigo relaxed and turned back. "Now come on, Mizuiro has disowned us"

They caught up with Mizuiro fast enough, and continued what little of the walk that remained in silence. As they rounded the corner the school entrance came into view, and waiting to one side was Orihime and Tatsuki.

Ichigo shot Keigo a glance, he needed to make sure his shorter friend wasn't going to say anything. From the pout on Keigo's face, it looked like his lips were sealed, for now.

"Morning, Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue called and waved.

"Morning Inoue" Ichigo replied, forcing a smile. He could feel Keigo's eyes burning into him. Tatsuki smiled at the group.

"Morning, what took you guys so long?" she said, but her smile quickly dropped and she eyed them all cautiously, as if sensing some kind of tension. "Everything okay?" she queried.

"We just got held up, no problems" Ichigo replied dismissively.

"Uh huh..." Tatsuki grunted skeptically. "So how come Asano looks like a scolded puppy?"

"Err..." Ichigo hesitated. He was so busy thinking of a reply he didn't See Uryu and Chad come up beside him.

"His sister found his stash of adult material under his bed" the Quincy cut in, coming to Ichigo's rescue.

"Wha? Wait no!" Keigo started to object but either Tatsuki believed Ishida or, more likely, sensed she was encroaching on a touchy subject because she cut him off.

"Oh save it Asano, its not like anyone's surprised." she smiled and turned away. Keigo just drooped, looking horrified. "Come on", Tatsuki said, "Were going to be late

* * *

The morning dragged.

Ichigo felt like he was in detention again, watching the minute hand make agonisingly slow progress around the clock face. Every so often he would drop his gaze to the combat pass sitting directly in front of him. Only a handful of people in the class could see it, so he wasn't concerned having it on the desk.

The teachers voice was just white noise to Ichigo. He felt a droplet of sweat run down his face, the room just seemed to be getting hotter.

He had changed his mind, today sucked and was no different to the one before it, or before that. His enthusiasm he had started the day with was completely gone. He could _really _use a Hollow right now to vent his frustration.

_Maybe that's why I enjoy the fights, they might just be the only thing keeping me sane!_

Ichigo cast his eyes across the room, they came to rest on the back of Inoue's head. Keigo's voice came back to him.

"_All the time you've spend together, everything you've been through and you've never once thought about it?" _

He hadn't, that was the honest truth. Sure, he understood why he _should _think about it, why any guy in his year thought about it, which they did, _a lot. _She was exceptionally attractive, he could appreciate that now more than at any other time in his life. Did she like him? He had never thought about that either.

She did always seem overly concerned about him, not to mention her awkwardness last night. But that was just Inoue being Inoue, wasn't it?

Some kind of sixth sense jogged Ichigo from his thoughts. His gaze had rested on her for too long. He flicked his eyes over to Keigo, who was leering at him through narrowed eyes. The smug look on his face was easy to read, it said 'Now you're thinking about it!"

Ichigo grimaced and shut his eyes. Now he wanted the clock to slow down, because as soon as the lunch bell sounded Keigo would announce, very publicly and very inaccurately about how he had caught Ichigo fantasising about Inoue in class. Ichigo had no doubt Keigo would do it, regardless of the beating he would receive. It would be repayment for this morning.

At this rate Inoue would end up getting dragged into and embarrassed by something she knew nothing about and he didn't want that. It was all in Keigo's head. Ichigo decided he would have to grip him as soon as possible and _convince _him to let it go.

That or throw him from the roof.

Ichigo shot Keigo as scary a look as he could muster, sort of a preemptive strike. Keigo wasn't intimidated. Using both hands he made the universal gesture for 'Big breasts', he then finished it off with a double thumbs up.

How could any one boy be that perverted? And Ichigo had thought all the fighting had left _him_ scarred, maybe Keigo was the damaged one, for other reasons obviously.

"Kurosaki!" a voice cut through his thoughts.

Ochi-sensei was staring daggers at him, _again. _Ichigo was getting used to that look. His heart sank.

"Y..yes" he stammered.

"Do you want detention again? Stop making eyes at Asano and pay attention!" she exclaimed, well aware of the reaction the class would have. On cue, everyone in front of Ichigo swivelled in there seats to stare at him, while the braver of those behind him just laughed. The only person not to look around was Uryu, above it as usual.

Inoue caught Ichigo's eye. She smiled at him softly, sympathising with his embarrassment.

Ochi-sensei continued with the lesson after retrieving the attention of the class. Ichigo just sulked. He looked out of the window, jealous of all the free people outside of class. He really couldn't wait for school to finish. The rumours, the cliques, the gossip, it was all so juvenile.

He spent the next thirty minutes wallowing in his own misery, before the dreaded lunch bell rang.

Ichigo made a bee line for Keigo, but much to his surprise, when his friend opened his mouth to talk, all that came fourth was an invitation to eat lunch on the roof.

Ichigo grunted his approval and merged with the crush of students heading for the door. They ate lunch on the roof near enough everyday so Keigo hardly needed to bring it up, but it was better than...Ichigo didn't even want to think about what it _could _have been.

Ten minutes later, Ichigo, Keigo, Chad and Mizuiro were on the roof. Uryu was off doing something university related and Tatsuki had headed for the playing field. Ichigo had no idea where Inoue was and, frankly, was glad she was absent, based on where the conversation was quickly headed.

"You were looking dude, don't even try to deny it!" Keigo exclaimed, "I saw you! And I know the sorts of things you were thinking, I've been there many times myself!" he said, his eyes misting over, clearly he was visiting that place at that very moment.

"You didn't see anything! And I wasn't thinking anything!" Ichigo started to defend himself. "I'm not interested in Inoue, the end!"

"So tell me this Ichigo, If not Inoue, then who?" Keigo asked from a safe distance, using Chad as a shield.

"Why does it have to be anyone?" Ichigo snapped back.

"Because! Its your duty, I'm sure there are plenty of girls desperate enough to go out with you" Keigo replied.

Ichigo just growled at him. "You're very brave, lets see you say that without hiding behind Chad" he threatened from behind clenched teeth, Keigo clearly wanted the beating that was coming his way.

Mizuiro once again spoke up at this point, although he did so without looking up from his phone in an attempt to avoid Ichigo's angry stare. "Actually Asano-san, I think you'll find Ichigo spoiled for choice, he's quite popular"

Keigo sulked, "Its not fair..."

Ichigo opened his mouth to argue with Mizuiro. "What the...Really?". He was instantly horrified at his response, not only because it would add fuel to Keigo's fire, who was getting excited again, but also because it had slipped out so naturally. Not because he was interested in dating any of the girls in his year, it had simply soothed an already sizeable ego.

Ichigo felt the need to retrieve the situation. "Whatever..." he breathed, trying to shrug it off, "None of them have anything that interests me".

"They have breasts Ichigo!" Keigo exclaimed, but shrunk back as a red-faced Ichigo hefted a textbook, ready to throw it at him. "I've told you a thousand times, drop that perverted shit!" he warned.

Strangely, Keigo had no reply, it was Mizuiro who piped up again. "Or is it because, none of them are...Kuchiki-san?" he said, his voice like oil. Ichigo, as if frozen in place, dropped the raised textbook and, turning an interesting shade of crimson, started to splutter.

"W..Wha...What the fuck Mizuiro, NO!" he stammered.

Keigo smiled slyly. "Of course! Rukia-chan! I knew you had the hots for her!" he beamed.

Ichigo was now fit to burst. "Shut. up. Now!" he growled, pointing at each of them in turn. "Why did you have to drag Rukia into this?". Keigo scrambled over to Ichigo.

"Its okay buddy, she's gone and you miss her, its natural, it all adds up!" he said soothingly, placing a brotherly arm around Ichigo's shoulders. "And may I say Ichigo, I approve, she's not as well endowed as Inoue-san, but she sure is a looker!"

Ichigo swatted his hand away and stood up, grabbing his bag. "You've both lost it, I don't need to sit here and listen to this shit!", with that he stormed off, barging the door open and heading down the steps in a red haze.

The rooftop lapsed into silence for a few seconds.

Mizuiro then turned to Keigo. "Good job!" he exclaimed. Keigo looked shocked.

"Me!? What did I do?"

* * *

Hopefully everyone seemed as In-character as possible here, Its hard to write Ichigo when It comes to girls. but I don't think its going too badly.

I appreciate all feedback as long as its constructive :P


	3. Secret Shopping

Ichigo steamed for about ten minutes, before finding a tree in a quieter corner of the school playing field under which to sit and cool off.

Okay, what Keigo and Mizuiro said had gotten to him. There was no point denying that, but why?

_Because they brought Rukia into it. _

Ichigo just groaned and rested his head against the tree. The stifling heat was broken for a split second by a breeze, but it was quickly gone again. Ichigo's theory about today being cooler had also vanished, if anything it was now hotter than yesterday.

Just then, as Ichigo closed his eyes and started to calm down, the tranquillity was shattered as a soccer ball impacted the tree just inches from Ichigo's head. Cursing loudly, Ichigo dived for cover. Unsure what it was he was under attack from.

"Relax Ichigo, it's just a soccer ball!" Tatsuki said somewhat breathlessly as she came running over in chase of the stray ball. Ichigo came up on his knees and looked at the offending object, then up at Tatsuki.

"Well shit I didn't know that, I had my freaking eyes shut!" he retorted.

Tatsuki looked down at him. "Calm down I was only joking, you just seemed a little jumpy was all" she said, then a puzzled look crossed her face. "What you doing over here all by yourself?"

Ichigo huffed and crossed his arms,"Just didn't fancy the company..." he muttered.

Tatsuki bent to pick up the ball, looking Ichigo in the eye as she did so. "You okay?" she asked.

"Fine..." was all Ichigo could manage for a reply. Tatsuki opened her mouth to say something else but was interrupted by a nearby shout.

"Hey! Arisawa! Come on were waiting here!" the voice complained.

Tatsuki rounded on the voice and hefted the ball above her head. "Here! Take it!" she yelled as she hurled the ball at her unfortunate teammate, whom it struck with a dull thud, followed by a pathetic whimper. "Carry on without me for a sec!", she called.

Ichigo watched the boy go, rubbing his now sore ribs and muttering something about uneven teams as Tatsuki sat herself down next to him.

"Come on..." she started, "What's up?"

Ichigo grimaced, throwing on one of his signature scowls, he really didn't want to talk. "Just a difference of opinion..." he sighed, "No biggie"

Tatsuki just nodded, plucking absent-mindedly at the grass by her folded legs. "Asano is giving you a hard time huh?"

Ichigo started at her, confusion clear on his face, "That's too good for a guess Tatsuki, want to fill me in?" he asked, somewhat nervously. How much did she know?

She waved him off dismissively. "It was pretty obvious from this morning, we could hear you guys yelling from down the street"

_Shit!_

"You..you heard?" Ichigo stammered, this was bad. "Like..what did you hear?"

Tatsuki eyed him curiously. "Nothing, we couldn't hear you clearly..." she narrowed her eyes, suspecting something. "Why? What were you talking about?"

"Nothing! Just Keigo being Keigo, obsessing over stupid stuff and being even more of a moron than usual" he sighed, relaxing, "I don't know what gotten into him".

Tatsuki nodded, turning away and looking back at the ground. They sat in silence for a few minutes, when she spoke again it was quiet, her voice was uncharacteristically soft. "Don't be too hard on him, he's probably scared and that's how he shows it" she said. Ichigo turned to her, unsure of her meaning.

"Scared? Of what?" he asked, genuinely clueless.

"Think about it Ichigo" she said, turning back to him. "What going to happen after high school ends?".

Ichigo scratched his head, trying to think what she was getting at. "Err...we go to college?" he guessed.

She smiled at him, relieved he wasn't being as dense as she expected. "Right! Mizuiro has good grades, so does Chad, amazingly so do you, despite the fact you miss half our lessons..." she started.

Ichigo prickled a little at that. "I'm still above average" he muttered, more to himself than her.

Tatsuki ignored him. "Keigo isn't going to get those sorts of grades, and I know that's his fault!" she said, holding up her hands to silence Ichigo who had already opened his mouth to say just that. Tatsuki continued, "But the fact is, he _wont _be going to the sorts of school you guys will be headed to and he will be left behind"

Ichigo nodded, he hadn't thought of that.

Tatsuki stood and slapped Ichigo on the shoulder. "I know he can be a pain in the ass, but he's probably covering, you know?"

Ichigo nodded again, "Yeah, I guess I could cut him some slack, thanks" he smiled. She nodded and started to walk off. Ichigo leant back against the tree and noticed the grass stains on her legs and the back of her skirt.

"Hey Arisawa, you've got grass stains on your ass" he said, quite innocently.

She rounded on him. "You looking!?" she asked, amazed.

Ichigo reddened, he didn't mean it that way at all. "What!? No I just noticed that's all!" he screamed defensively. He was starting to sulk when he realised Tatsuki was teasing him. "Yeah yeah okay, whatever" he smirked, waving her off.

Tatsuki just laughed and went back to her soccer game. Screaming at her team mate to pass the ball to her. Ichigo smiled, he guessed he did have some good friends, even if a few of them were a real pain at times. He stood and decided to return to the roof, he might as well face the hyenas now rather than later.

* * *

The rest of the day passed more or less without incident. Keigo seemed to have gotten the message this time and amazingly went the entire afternoon without a perverted comment. Ichigo felt more relaxed than he had this morning.

Before he knew it, the bell rang at the end of the day and Ichigo started to collect his things, thankful to be able to leave on time for once. Most of the students made for the exit like stampeding bulls, but he was in no hurry, he needed to take care of something that had become somewhat of a ritual, before heading home.

Either Keigo was eager to avoid any more of Ichigo's wrath or he had other plans because neither he nor Mizuiro hung around. That suited Ichigo fine, he needed to head for the bookstore as it was and it would be easier if he didn't have to answer any questions. He took the opportunity presented to to him and slipped away.

Thirty-nine humid minutes later he was back home. Kicking his shoes off as he got in the front door, he called a general greeting to whoever might be within earshot before making up the stairs for his room. He rounded the corner, only to find Yuzu blocking his path.

"Ichi-nii! What kept you?" she asked, which was strange as Ichigo was often home late. "Did you get detention again?" she said somewhat demandingly.

Ichigo opened his mouth to argue but that might lead to further questions about what he had been doing. "Err, yeah detention! That's where I was, you know me" he answered in nowhere near as convincing a voice as he would have liked, fortunately Yuzu seemed to buy it.

"You need to stop getting in so much trouble! You've got exams coming up" she scolded, sounding far too much like Ichigo's teacher.

Ichigo made to slide past her in an effort to get to his door, clutching his bag like a madman. "Yeah I know, I think I'll just go to my room and go over some notes" he offered weakly, it sounded nothing like him but again, Yuzu accepted his words.

"Okay, I'll call when dinners ready" he smiled.

"Thanks" Ichigo said quickly before disappearing through his door, slamming it a little harder than he had meant to .

Yuzu stood outside his door for a few moments and was thinking through what Ichigo had said when she was interrupted by Karin, who had appeared behind her, leaning casually against the wall.

"He's such a bad liar!" she scoffed.

Yuzu looked at her with wide eyes. "What do you mean Karin?" she asked.

Karin just rolled her eyes at her gullible sister. "What I mean is, Ichigo's acting strange and its certainly not homework that's on his mind" she said, not entirely sure what it meant herself. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, someone who did know what she meant came bounding up the stairs.

"Isnt it obvious?" Isshin said dramatically, "Ichigo must have a girlfriend!" he finished, welling up at the thought. Yuzu pouted.

"Dad! Ichigo doesn't have a girlfriend!" she argued.

Isshin ignored her, pressing his ear against Ichigo's door. "Well if he doesn't have one..." he said, narrowing his eyes, "..he's thinking about getting one! I've spotted the signs, the boy is finally growing up!"

Isshin had more to say, but was interrupted when Ichigo's door nearly parted company from its frame, clearly bearing the brunt of a savage kick from the other side which sent Isshin sprawling and Karin and Yuzu running for cover.

"I can hear you!" Ichigo shouted from behind the closed, and now somewhat splintered door. "Get lost will you!".

Isshin jumped up, "Its okay son, you don't have to hide it, I'm your father, I can sense these things" he said.

"I said get lost!" Ichigo screamed.

Karin grabbed her fathers leg, pulling him towards the stairs. "Lets go old man, clearly Ichigo isn't in the mood for company!" she grunted, trying to separate her father from the door frame he was clinging to. "Yuzu! Give me a hand".

Yuzu somewhat reluctantly grabbed Isshin's other leg.

"Your dad knows all about the ladies son!" he shouted as his grip gave way and he started getting dragged down the hallway, "Your at a hormonal part of your life, you should embrace it!". That was all he managed before he began the painful process of making his way down the stairs, backwards, on his chin.

Ichigo waited on the other side of the door until he was sure his family had gone. Satisfied, he did a quick Anti-Kon scan of his room, checking on the bed, under the bed, on the desk and in the desk drawer (He might have grown to like it). Confident he was finally alone, he placed his school bag on the desk and removed two mangas in a plastic bag.

He pulled open his closet, it was still empty. He had attempted to make use of the space after Rukia stopped sleeping in it, but he had only ever gotten as far as putting the bedding away in one of the drawers. It was highest of these drawers he now pulled open. Inside was a manga treasure trove, all neatly arranged by series and in numerical order, spines facing up.

Ichigo took the volumes from there carrier bag and studied the covers. They were awful, all gushy and romantic, usually featuring a rose and a woman crying on the front, no wonder the guy behind the counter always gave him a strange look, at any rate they all looked the same to Ichigo. He sighed and pushed the books into their correct numerical place.

He was very embarrassed by this manga-stuffed drawer, and always asked himself why he did it. He knew why of course, they were Rukia's favourites, for the short time she was there she had read the first few books to death. Ichigo traced a finger across the creased, dog-eared spine of one of them. He had picked up the new books every so often just she would have something of her own should she ever visit and it just snowballed from there. Now it wouldn't be long before he couldn't even shut the drawer.

Ichigo shut the drawer quickly, then the closet door. If his father or any of his friends ever found it he would have some explaining to do, after he had nearly killed them for rooting through his bedroom of course. The guy at the store must assume they are for a girl though, right?

Ichigo sighed, thinking that he should perhaps start getting them online. He lay back on the bed, deep in thought.

_Buying stuff for a girl you may or may not ever see again, does it get any sadder than that? _

At least, that's how the thoughts started.

_But imagine her face when she finds them. _

That thought made Ichigo smile, which he quickly caught and turned into a frown. He sighed and rubbed his temples. "Yep, definitely going crazy" he muttered to himself.

"Ichi-nii, Dinner!" came the distant sound of Yuzu's voice from downstairs.

"Coming!" Ichigo called back, he pushed himself off the bed with a groan. He should probably just sell the whole lot. What were the chances of her visiting again? Much less going into his closet?

* * *

*Sighs* I really hope Ichigo seemed IC here, if he seemed a little off I apologize but hey, women make guys do stupid things.

Just a short(er) chapter this time, but certain people make an appearance very soon! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I was overwhelmed by the positive responses.

I cut the Hollow fight last chapter because in every fic I read I skip the Hollow fights unless they are central to the plot, but I you would like me to take a stab at one I can.


	4. Homework, Heatwaves and Her

Ichigo couldn't remember the last time he had been this hot. He could feel sweat leaking from every pore, his shirt clung to his back and his palms were slick. The classroom seemed to swim before his eyes. His normally unruly orange hair was flat to his forehead.

He looked around the classroom, no one else was fairing any better. Keigo was almost comatose in his seat, hanging limply where he sat. Ochi-sensei was desperately trying to read from a textbook, but she couldn't seem to go a sentence without fanning herself with it.

He started to wonder if this school even had air-conditioning, it was so hot in this room it must be bad for everyone's health. He went back to staring at the clock, which was becoming an annoying habit, he hoped the heat was messing with it, because there was no way he had only been sitting there for twenty minutes.

The windows were open as far as they could go, Karakura town shimmered in the heat. It must have been one of the hottest summers on record. Ichigo only hoped this savage temperature must mean the heatwave was about to break, he must be dangerously dehydrated by now. For the first time in ages he found himself wishing a Hollow _wouldn't _show up, he really didn't have the energy to deal with it.

Ichigo tried again to remember the last time it had been this hot. The previous year had been somewhat of a washout, it rained near-continuously for most of May and June, as if feeding off his misery. Now the weather was making him miserable in a different way.

He remembered the summer of two years ago being a hot one. It had broken on the anniversary of this mothers death, when Ichigo had fought Grand Fisher in the middle of a rainstorm, again as if mirroring his feelings. He thought back on that battle, his father had since told him that he had killed Grand Fisher a few months later, only he had been in Arrancar form.

Ichigo was okay with that, at least it was a Kurosaki that had killed that monster. As much as Ichigo would dearly have liked to kill him, he had his shot and blew it. Besides, if anything his Dad had just as much of a reason to want it dead, knowing Grand Fisher was alive and Masaki was not must have been...painful.

Of course, thinking back on that year just brought other memories to the surface. The Shinigami, Soul Society, Rukia...

Ichigo looked at the still empty desk next to him, someone had tried to sit in it since then, but Ichigo had just glared at the unfortunate boy until he decided to try a different seat. He could picture Rukia sitting there now, all prim and proper, listening diligently to the teacher as if she were really a student.

Every so often she would glance over and smile at him...

Ichigo felt the increasingly familiar sensation in the pit of his stomach again. It felt like nervousness, the kind he had felt before a big battle, only it was _nice _somehow. He started to sweat even more.

_Was Mizuiro right? Is that what this feeling is? Do I have feelings for Rukia?_

It was true that Ichigo had always looked at Rukia differently than he did other girls. He had always thought of her as _superior _somehow. He had never really had too much time to think it over before, either he was fighting for his life or, when he lost his powers, just shut all those memories away because they were too painful to drag out.

Perhaps he always had feelings for her, but It wasn't until now that he could make sense of them. He had always thought she was beautiful, but it was only recently he became interested in girls in an intimate sense. He remembered well the feeling of desperation and despair when she was taken away to be executed, or his worry whenever she was injured. She knew him better than anyone and she always brought out the best in him.

Ichigo couldn't help silently laughing at himself as a crystal clear moment of realisation washed over him.

_Of all the girls I could pick, only I could go for the one-hundred-and-fifty year old, sword wielding dead woman!_

Ichigo had no idea how long he had daydreamed for but he was snapped from his thoughts by the ringing of the lunchbell, somehow half an hour had flown by. He allowed himself to smile, if nothing else it seemed thinking about Rukia was a good way to pass the time.

* * *

Ichigo groaned, walking through this heat was like wading through molasses, his legs felt heavy and his head swam. It was Friday and he was heading home, he should be happy. Only Ochi-sensei had given him enough homework to keep him locked in his room for days.

He practically dragged his textbook laden school bag behind him. He cursed his teacher under his breath. One week of school left, and she gives him _this. _Sure, he had missed a few lessons, but wasn't this a little harsh? He would have to crack on as soon as he got home if was going to stand any chance of handing it in on Monday.

That's if he ever _got _home. It was hotter than hell. The street just seemed to stretch on and on forever, everything on he horizon shimmered as if on fire. His clothes were soaked and his throat parched. Heaving the increasingly heavy bag back onto this shoulder, he pressed on. Who knew walking home from school could be so traumatic?

After another twenty minutes of agony, he was finally approaching his front door. Stepping across the threshold into the air-conditioned interior was heaven. Well, for a moment it was anyway...

"Welcome home Ichigo!" came the overly-enthusiastic greeting from his father of all people.

Ichigo recoiled. Stuck between his father and the heat outside, he was weighing his options. "Err, thanks?" he replied. This was weird, his father was rarely even at home now, let alone actually _greeting _him at the door.

_Something's going on! _

After the alarm bells started ringing in his head, Ichigo became defensive, he wouldn't put it past his father to have devised some kind of trap. He looked around, but everything seemed normal, except for his father of course.

"How was your day?" Isshin beamed.

Ichigo's eye began to twitch, "How was my...day? What is with you!?" he replied, looking genuinely terrified. This was twice he had been interrogated upon returning home.

"Nothing!" Isshin replied Innocently.

Ichigo sighed, he was desperate to get away now. "It was hot, I have lots of homework and now you're interrogating me, so all in all, not great!" he dead-panned, attempting to squeeze past Isshin.

His father jumped back, holding his hands up innocently. "Can't a father show interest in his sons day?" he asked.

"You haven't before, so...no" Ichigo huffed as he turned to head to his room.

"Well who knows!.." his father called, "It might get better!". With that he trotted off into the living room.

Ichigo just stared after him, shaking his head, "Have you been drinking?" he called back, before stomping up the stairs. He barged into his room, dropping his bag on the floor and collapsing face down on the bed. Between school, the heat and his father, he was exhausted.

_Need to get on! _

Ichigo pushed himself up and dumped the contents of his schoolbag onto his desk. He groaned at the mountain of textbooks now piled up in front of him but forced himself to get on with it. Pulling out his notebook and pen he sat himself at his desk.

The minutes ticked by, but no matter how hard he stared at the numbers in front of him, Ichigo couldn't make sense of them. The pages just seemed to swim before his eyes. After ten minutes had past by without putting pen to paper, Ichigo had had enough.

He threw down his pen with an exasperated sigh and rubbed his temples. It was just impossible, he couldn't concentrate. He groaned and leant back, putting his feet up on the desk and just stared at the ceiling. He was just beginning to close his eyes when...

"Ichigo!" a familiar voice shouted.

"WHAT THE-!" screamed Ichigo as he jumped at the voice, toppling backwards on his chair. He made a futile grab for the desk but just scattered paperwork before finally falling backwards with a crash.

For a moment he just lay there, he wasn't sure what had happened, but as he came to his senses he heard laughter and looked up. The closet door was open, and looking down at him, now trying hard to stifle her laughter...was Rukia.

Ichigo couldn't believe it. "...Rukia", he half breathed, half croaked.

Rukia cocked her head to meet his sideways gaze, raven bangs falling across her face as she did so. "Hey" she replied, but Ichigo got a genuine smile this time. Ichigo just stared back, that was _the _smile. Unfortunately he lay looking at her for so long the smile turned into a frown. "Idiot, have you got a concussion? How long are you going to lay on the floor!?" she snapped.

Ichigo forced a scowl, even though he actually wanted to grin like a madman. He pushed himself off the floor and stood up, trying to ignore how fast his heart was beating. "Rukia.." he said again. "What are you doing here?"

"You aren't pleased to see me?" she asked, in that fake voice she knew he hated.

_Yes! _

"No!" he grunted, "You nearly gave me a fucking heart attack!". He bent down and righted the fallen chair.

Rukia just laughed again, knowing full well she wouldn't get an 'I missed you' out of Ichigo.

Ichigo huffed, but was unable to stop the smile that spread across his face. Unfortunately the next noise made his heart sink.

"Err, can you two have a reunion later? Its really stuffy in here" came another familiar but muffled voice from inside the closet. Suddenly a crimson haired head appeared next to Rukia.

"Yo Ichigo!" Renji greeted, squeezing up closer to Rukia, a little _too_ close. "Gotta say its a little cramped in here and...Woah what the fuck!" he yelled as Ichigo grabbed him by the collar mid sentence.

"What do you think you are doing in there with her!? Get out!" Ichigo screamed, yanking Renji out the closet. Rukia yelped and shrank back as Renji was pulled out from beside her, before being sent sprawling on the floor.

"Well, that's not how you greet a friend..." Renji breathed as he picked himself up. He turned on Ichigo, "What was that for Kurosaki?" he growled, but stopped when he saw the horrified look on Ichigo's face, "What?" he asked defensively.

"What are you wearing?" Ichigo asked, his eye twitching.

Renji looked down at himself, he had teamed a bright red floral shirt with beige cargo shorts and flip-flops. The red of the shirt was just bright enough that it clashed with his hair. "What? This is what humans wear on vacation isn't it?" he asked innocently.

"In Hawaii maybe, where did you even get that?" Ichigo replied.

"Urahara gave it too me, can you believe he's got an entire closet full of these?" Renji enthused.

Ichigo just slapped his forehead. "Somehow, I can totally believe that..." he breathed, "Anyway, what's all this talk about vacation? Surely to earn a vacation first you have to _work!_"_. _

"Hey!" Renji shouted, ready to defend himself, but Rukia cut him off.

"We're not here on vacation Renji, we're here under orders!" she snapped as she hopped down from the closet. Ichigo took a second to appraise the pink dress she was wearing, he hadn't seen it before, it certainly wasn't one of Yuzu's.

"Orders?" Ichigo started as it suddenly sunk in what she had said, "Is something going on?".

Rukia calmed him with a raised palm. "You always expect the worst" she chided.

"Well can you blame me?"

"Captain Ukitake was concerned, given the stresses you've been under in the past few years, about your well being" she said, taking a seat on Ichigo's bed. "He wanted to make sure you were settling back into your Substitute duties and that it wasn't putting too much of a burden on your human life"

_More like the other way around! _

"We've been asked to observe you for a few days, just to make sure everything is under control" she finished.

Ichigo wasn't impressed. "Make sure _I'm _under control you mean? Nice to know the Soul Society trusts me, I think I can handle a few Hollows!" he spat.

"Oh don't be so dramatic!", Rukia snapped, "Captain just wants to make sure you've got a handle on this, after all you haven't long had your powers back and you didn't really spend much time as a Substitute Shinigami last time before the Hueco Mundo situation"

Ichigo just looked at her.

_Shit she's sexy when she's serious..._

Ichigo swallowed hard, agreeing with and horrified by his thoughts in equal measure. "How long for?" was all he could think to say.

Rukia put her smug smile back on. "Until I'm satisfied, I have to observe you in your day to day routine and make sure your are performing your duties efficiently and professionally" she stated as if she was reading it from a book.

Ichigo scratched his head, "So, what about when I'm at school?".

Rukia looked perplexed. "What kind of question is that?", she replied as if he had offended her, "I'll obviously come with you, I've accompanied you to school before, this time will be no different"

"So let me get this straight" Ichigo started. "You're going to re-enroll in school for the last week of term. Isn't that going to look a little strange?" he asked, eyeing Renji warily, who had stuck his head out of Ichigo's cracked bedroom door.

"Well I'm sorry if its inconvenient!" Rukia snapped tersely. "I wasn't made aware of your school calendar, but it doesn't matter, we're coming with you, our orders are clear..."

"Actually Rukia", Renji interrupted, "Its just you who is here under orders, I'm just...here"

Rukia's face dropped,"I knew it!" she snapped, pointing at him accusingly. "You just hassled Nii-sama until he let you come, didn't you!?".

Renji hid behind Ichigo, "It was your brothers idea! I believe the word he used was 'escort'" he stated matter-of-factly, suddenly brave while using Ichigo for cover.

Rukia looked ready to explode, "And I told you I don't need an escort!" she shouted. Ichigo scratched his face, thinking through what to say to defuse this situation.

Unfortunately he didn't think hard enough.

"Sounds like Byakuya doesn't trust you..." he said, regretting it instantly.

This time Rukia did explode.

"Is that it Renji!? Does Nii-sama not trust me!?" she yelled.

"No! That's not it!" Renji shouted back, before adding in a quieter voice, "Its Ichigo he doesn't trust".

"WHAT!?" it was Ichigo's turn to explode. He rounded on the 6th squad Lieutenant, who now broke cover and chose to hide behind Rukia instead. "Give me one good reason why he shouldn't trust me?" he asked.

"Give me one good reason why he should?" Renji dead-panned.

Rukia silenced them both with a clap of her hands. "Enough!" she exclaimed, before dragging Renji out from behind her. "Renji, you're here because my brother told you to come, so that technically makes it an order".

"All he _specifically _said was that I'm to make sure you get here and back safely, you're here so I'm off-duty until you go back" Renji replied smugly before turning to Ichigo. "So you squares can go to school, I'm taking a vacation!"

"What are you going to do?" Ichigo asked, knowing the reply before he said it.

"I'm going to..." Renji started, but then became lost in thought. "What do humans do on vacation?" he finally asked.

Ichigo just laughed. "That's a question for my Dad!" he replied.

"Okay, I'll ask him!" Renji stated, heading back for the door, "Whatever your sister is cooking down there smells good anyhow!".

Ichigo made a grab for the back of his shirt. "There is no way I'm introducing you to my father, Rukia meeting him was bad enough!" he grunted, trying to stop Renji from walking out the room.

"Who do you think let us up here?" Rukia quipped.

Ichigo blanched and let go of Renji, who ended up on the floor for a second time. "He knows your here!?" he whispered. This explained a few things, his greeting for one.

Renji jumped back up. "Yeah! Your Dad is cool, even invited us to dinner!" he beamed.

Ichigo slapped his forehead again. This could only go badly, "Okay well, your not bunking here while on your vacation! And my sister is not obliged to feed you outside of this evening, got it?" he growled.

"Got it man, got it, I'll crash at Urahara's with Rukia!" he replied, holding his hands up in defense.

Ichigo developed the twitch in his eye again. "Fuck that! Rukia stays here!" he growled through clenched teeth.

"How comes she's allowed to stay!?" Renji argued. This brought Ichigo up short, what did he say to that?

_Think fast!_

"Because..." he said, a reply suddenly springing to mind, "Her orders were to remain close! Plus she doesn't take up much room!". Feeling quite pleased with himself he grinned before plonking a hand on top of Rukia's head patronisingly.

"Two things..." Rukia growled. "One, was that a short joke? And Two, do you want to lose that hand?" Ichigo whipped the hand back into his pocket, remembering the last time he had done that had resulted in him being paralysed on the floor of this very room.

"No to both..." he whispered, not feeling quiet so good about himself now.

Rukia grinned innocently, reverting to her fake acting voice. "Great! Then lets go for dinner shall we?"

* * *

Okay so I didn't think it would take 4 Chapters for Rukia to make an appearance...even though I'm writing it...

As always keeping everyone as IC as possible is my number one concern, I'm doing my best. I feel Rukia's kinda more casual than normal at the start of this but I have my reasons! Thanks again for all the positive words.


	5. Dinner Conversation

"Rukia-chan!" Yuzu beamed as she charged across the room and latched herself onto Rukia.

"Hello Yuzu! You've grown so much" Rukia said sweetly, placing a hand on the smaller girls head, very aware that it wouldn't be long before Yuzu was as tall as her. Yuzu pulled back, looking serious all of sudden.

"Where did you go? You've cut your hair! I missed you, so did Ichi-nii, he..." she trailed off when she caught sight of Renji. Suddenly her expression turned murderous. "Who are you?" she demanded, walking up to Renji, pointing her ladle at him accusingly. Even though she was less than half his size, he looked terrified.

"Im..err...Abari Renji, Hello!" he stammered.

Yuzu just stared at him suspiciously through narrowed eyes. A few silent seconds ticked by before she spoke. "Are you Rukia-chan's boyfriend!?" she hissed.

Suddenly Renji's skin tone matched his hair colour. He was breathing rapidly and was unable to form a response. Yuzu was getting impatient. "Well, are you? Because Ichi-nii won't like that, and neither will I!" she yelled.

Normally, this would have caused Ichigo to die of embarrassment, but the sight of Renji, somebody he had nearly fought to the death, being backed into a corner by his baby sister, it was all he could do not to collapse with laughter.

Finally Renji found some words. "N...no, I'm not Rukia's boyfriend..." he croaked, holding his hands up to fend off the ladle should she choose to hit him with it.

Instead, Yuzu's frown turned into a beaming smile. "That's good then! Would you like some dinner Abari-kun? I've made plenty for everyone!" she replied sweetly, turning back to the kitchen.

"Yes please ma'am!" Renji spluttered obediently. He scuttled over to Ichigo who was still chuckling. "Fuck man, your sister's terrifying" he whispered.

"She's not even the mean one, whatever you do, don't piss off Karin!" he said, wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes.

Renji glanced over the older sister, who as if knowing what Ichigo had said, gave Renji a thumbs up. Renji shuddered, maybe it was good he wasn't staying here.

Ten minutes later dinner was served and they were all sat round the table. Renji was at one end, shovelling food into his mouth, every so often glancing over nervously at Yuzu.

Ichigo was sat next to his father, opposite him was Rukia, who was sat next to Yuzu. Karin occupied the other end of the table. Renji seemed to have hit it off with Isshin, the pair were now involved in a conversation that Ichigo wanted no part of. Yuzu hadn't touched her plate, she hadn't stopped talking to Rukia for long enough to eat anything.

Ichigo glanced up and Rukia, who was listening politely while enjoying her food. He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face, but when he realised he couldn't remove it either, he pushed some food into his mouth to give it something else to do.

She got on well with his family, she always had. For someone who had never had a family life while she was alive, she fit in perfectly. Yuzu idolised her, that was obvious. Even Karin seemed to like her, and she was suspicious of everyone. Every so often she would pitch into their conversation, which was strange for her.

Again Ichigo glanced up from his plate, only this time Rukia's eyes were there to meet his. They shared a quick smile, before returning to their meals.

"So Rukia-chan.." Yuzu piped up, "Are _you_ moving back here permanently?". She emphasised the 'you' while shooting a glance at Renji, who became very interested in his plate.

"Oh no, I'm just stopping here for a while, I'm sorry" Rukia replied, unsure of what to say for the best.

"That's too bad..." Yuzu started, "Because if you moved here, you and Ichi-nii could get married and we could be sisters in law!"

Ichigo nearly choked on the mouthful of food he had just eaten, luckily, thanks for the timing, the blush spreading up his neck and face could easily be mistaken for lack of oxygen instead of embarrassment. Karin and Isshin collapsed into laughter.

Renji looked like he was about to throw up. "That's err...not going to happen, sorry kiddo" he mumbled.

"Oh who asked you!?" Yuzu snapped back. Renji recoiled, going back to what little was left of his meal. Ichigo, still blushing furiously, tried to keep his eyes firmly on his dinner, but as the conversation drifted away from Rukia and him getting married, he chanced one more glance at her. She was picking at her dinner, her normal pale skin was also a bright shade of red.

After dinner, Yuzu announced she was going to start the clearing up and Rukia offered to help, Yuzu had objected at first, claiming that guests shouldn't clear up, but Rukia had insisted. Renji and Isshin were still chatting away and Karin had gone to watch TV in the adjoining sitting room. Ichigo hooked one arm over the back of his chair and picked his teeth idly.

He couldn't help smiling again, this was nice. This was the first family meal he had genuinely enjoyed in a long time. He listened, absent-mindedly, to Yuzu and Rukia talking to his left in the Kitchenette. Yuzu sounded genuinely happy, so did Rukia for that matter.

Ichigo wasn't stupid, as pleased as he was to see Rukia again, her timing was very convenient. He had been thinking about her a lot recently, today was no exception but as varied as Rukia's talents were, he was pretty sure mind reading wasn't one of them. Even still, something about the whole set up stank, did Renji know more than he was letting on?

Ichigo realised it was Rukia's orders that were bothering him, it seemed a bit unlikely that the Soul Society would sent two Lieutenants to check on him, if they needed to send anyone at all, wasn't that what the Combat Pass was for?

_The Combat Pass! _

Ichigo had it on him at all times, but Ginjo hadn't been too specific in his description of it, then again Ichigo hadn't really asked, having been a bit more preoccupied with not dying. He took the pass from his pocket and looked at it. He still wasn't sure how it worked, was is some kind of listening device? He remembered hearing Rukia's voice through it, but that didn't mean it worked both ways. Did it just keep track of basic information? Or was his life the subject of some kind of Soul Society reality show?

"Oh hell no old man, I'm not taking that!" Renji exclaimed.

Ichigo was snapped from his thoughts by the outburst and glanced over to see Isshin and Renji getting up from the table. "Where are you two off to?" he asked, slightly worried what they might be up to.

"Your pops seems to think he can drink me under the table, so I'm going to prove him wrong!" Renji said, jerking a thumb at Isshin.

Isshin gave Ichigo a grin. "You're too young lad, so you stay here and do the women's work!" he laughed.

"Excuse me!?" Rukia and Yuzu said in unison.

"No offence Yuzu, Rukia-chan!" Isshin called back, voice like butter.

Renji was headed for the door. "See you Ichigo, Don't wait up for your old man, I'll leave him in a ditch somewhere" he called over his shoulder.

Isshin just chuckled. "Lets see if you're still so confident in a few hours" he remarked as he pulled the door shut behind him.

Good, Ichigo thought, with the two idiots gone he might actually get some time alone with Rukia, who was shaking her head disapprovingly at her colleague's choice of after-dinner activity.

_Time alone? To do what!? _

Ichigo decided it would be better to stop thinking, and the best way to do that was television, so he went to join Karin in the sitting room.

* * *

Back In the kitchen, Yuzu was scrubbing at a stubborn mark on one of the dishes. Rukia was next to her on drying duty. Yuzu glanced over. "Its okay Rukia-chan, like I said you don't have to help" she said.

Rukia smiled at her. "I don't mind , it doesn't seem fair you do all the cooking _and _the do the dishes as well" she replied, before jerking her head in the direction of the living room. "You certainly don't get any help from them" she finished.

Yuzu just shrugged and returned her attention to the stained dish. "I started doing all of this after mommy died" she said quietly. "Dad does his best, but left to him, this place would be a wreck!".

Rukia just nodded, not really sure what she was supposed to say in this instance.

Yuzu filled the silence for her. "Its gotten a bit harder since I started school, I'm not here as much as I used to be, but It works" she shrugged again, passing the now clean plate over to Rukia.

"You're exceptionally mature for your age" Rukia said softly. "I was a bit like you, forced to grow up quickly, I know it can be difficult"

Yuzu smiled back at her. "I just like to see everyone happy!" she exclaimed. She stopped what she was doing for a second and looked Rukia in the eye. "Especially Ichi-nii, he's been sad for a while now" she said.

"Ichigo..?" Rukia replied, "Why? Is he okay?"

"I think so, now at least" she reached out and held onto Rukia's hand. "I'm glad you're back Rukia-chan..." she smiled, "Ichi-nii is too, tonight's the happiest I've seen him in a long time, but please don't tell him I said that!"

Rukia squeezed Yuzu's hand. "I wont..." she whispered.

* * *

After finishing the dishes, Rukia and Yuzu went to join Ichigo in the living room. Karin had been lured away by the prospect of a soccer game with some of the neighbour children. Ichigo was sprawled across the sofa. His long frame taking up nearly all of what was quite a large piece of furniture.

Rukia slapped his leg. "Move up" she said in a softer tone than she normally would have done, due to the presence of Ichigo's younger sister. Rukia sat next to Ichigo, her leg rubbing against his, which resulted in a slight blush returning to his face. Thankfully the only source of light in the dark room was from the television so it wasn't obvious.

"Where'd you get that dress?" Ichigo asked, his earlier curiosity getting the better of him. He didn't want to say too much, he didn't know If Yuzu was aware that Rukia used to steal her clothes.

Rukia looked down at the pale pink dress. "I think it used to be Ururu's.." she replied, seemingly not sure of the dresses origins.

"I think it looks nice on you Rukia-chan!" Yuzu exclaimed.

Ichigo scratched his head as he figured out how best to word his next sentence. "You know, if you're going to be stopping by, you could always get some clothes of your own to keep here" he said slowly. He didn't want to say anything that might prompt questions from Yuzu about where Rukia went when she wasn't there, but Rukia having to borrow and steal clothes seemed a bit unnecessary. Plus Ichigo would never admit it but he would very much like to see Rukia in something that hadn't previous belonged to his little sister.

"Oooh, shopping!" came the very excited reply from Yuzu, who luckily had not picked up on the details Ichigo was worried about.

Rukia looked at Ichigo. "I suppose so, It couldn't hurt to buy some new things..." she said quietly. To his surprise this reply made Ichigo very happy. She could have easily said words to the effect of 'There would be no point as I'm not going to be coming here much', but the fact she was interested in buying clothes might mean he would see her a little more often.

"Okay..." he replied, faking indifference as best as he could, "Well go shopping for some tomorrow".

"Can I come!" Yuzu practically screamed with excitement, making both Ichigo and Rukia jump. Ichigo thought it over for a second, he would like some time along with Rukia although he still didn't know why, but he also needed to spend some time with his sister, this option ticked both boxes. Yuzu took Ichigo's hesitation as a sign of impending bad news. "Please let me come!" she squeaked, looking Rukia in the eye, "Ichi-nii isn't exactly fashionable, you need a girls opinion!".

"Yes you can come Yuzu!" Ichigo answered for Rukia.

Grinning like a lunatic, a very happy Yuzu returned her attention to the TV. Rukia leant a little closer to Ichigo, her leg brushing against his again.

_Would she stop that already!? _

"Ichigo..." she whispered. "I don't have any money".

Ichigo just sighed theatrically. "Its fine.." he mumbled back, "Don't worry about it". Out the corner of his eye he saw Rukia smile in the light of the television. She nudged him gently in the ribs with her elbow. It was the closest he was going to get for a thank you. "And hey!" he said, suddenly remembering what Yuzu had said. "What's wrong with the way I dress?"

They spent the rest of the evening watching TV. It was only when Ichigo was laying in bed that night that he realised he couldn't actually remember what they had been watching. His brain was just obsessing over the fact that Rukia was right there, sitting next to him. Yuzu had fallen asleep on the couch and in doing so had spread out, pushing Rukia closer to Ichigo as she did so, Ichigo suspected she was just pretending to be asleep and it was all a plot to get them to cuddle.

They had sat that way, pressed against each other for half an hour or so, neither of them moved or said anything. It was strange, Ichigo had had plenty of physical contact with Rukia before. But it was usually in the form of a punch or kick, or when he gave her a piggyback on the way to fight a hollow or something. This was very different, they weren't fighting or having an argument, they were just sitting together.

Eventually Karin came back and took Yuzu to bed, Rukia went with them as she had taken up her old place in their room as opposed to Ichigo's closet. So he had bid her goodnight and went to his room. Now he was lying in bed, wide awake.

He felt good, he had to admit. Far better than he had done in months. His powers were back, Rukia was back and things were the way they should be.

_For how long? _

Pushing that thought from his mind, Ichigo rolled over, he should get some sleep. He was quite looking forward to tomorrow. Sure, it was probably going to get expensive, but it wasn't like he spent his money on anything else, and he had accumulated a fair amount by offering his services to the schools various sports teams, who happily paid him in return for his heightened agility and stamina.

Slowly his eyes grew heavier. At the end of the day, even if it cost him a lot of money, he was going to take Rukia shopping and, dare he say it, _treat _her.

_Like any boyfriend would..._

He didn't even have enough time to curse himself for that final pathetic thought before he fell asleep.

* * *

Sorry for the shortness! I'm hopeful for longer chapters for here on in, but I want them to flow naturally as well. For anyone who might be wondering I'm not going to be casting Renji in the classic 'Bad Guy' role, I personally can't stand that in fics, plus he's my favourite character so I would feel disloyal lol.

As always thanks for the kind words, I really wasn't expecting such a good response. This story has just been rattling around in my head and felt the need to get it out, but I very much appreciate the kindness. I will update soon!


	6. Not-so-Secret Shopping

Ichigo awoke early, very early, glancing over to check the clock he groaned when It read five-forty-two AM. For a moment he just lay there, trying to figure out why he was awake so early. Then it all came back to him at once.

_Rukia is here..._

Ichigo sat bolt upright, his heart pounding in his chest. He remembered that he was taking Rukia shopping today, and he couldn't lie, he was a little excited. Deciding that he wasn't going to get any more sleep he swung his legs over the side of this bed and rubbed his eyes. Today was going to be a good day, he told himself, and for once he actually believed it.

He decided to make full use of the shower before three girls got their claws into the bathroom. Ichigo crossed over to his chest of drawers and pulled open the first one. The sight that greeted him made him recoil at first, a sock was writhing, ontop of all the others and a muffled voice could he heard coming from within. Ichigo relaxed when he saw a pair of plush Lion legs poking out the bottom.

Ichigo grabbed the sock and, holding onto both legs with one hand, he roughly pulled the sock free with the other.

"Nee-san!" Kon exhaled loudly, breathing heavily despite not having, or needing, lungs. He didn't hide his disappointment when he saw Ichigo. "Oh its you..." he sighed.

"What are you doing in a sock?", Ichigo asked, although he had a feeling he knew the answer.

"Well I was just so happy to see my Nee-san..." Kon started, welling up at the thought, "Then that red-haired asshole shoved me in here!" he cried indignantly, "Where is he!? I'm going to..."

Ichigo shushed him, holding the Lion upside down by one foot. "Its early so keep it down, why did Renji stuff you in a sock?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kon replied, meeting Ichigo's inverted gaze.

_So they could ambush me from the freaking closet! _

"He's clearly threatened by me! That's why!" Kon finished, feeling the need to point out what he thought was obvious.

Ichigo just sighed, it was too early for Kon. "Yeah yeah, Rukia must be really concerned seeing as she didn't come and let you out herself" he quipped, dropping Kon to the floor. "Now stay here and try not to get shut in any more drawers, between this and the desk you're starting to make a habit of it" he finished, taking what he needed from the open drawer before closing it with his foot, as his hands were now full.

He silently thanked his lucky stars that it was this drawer they had chosen to hide Kon in, they could just have easily opened the top drawer in his closet and that would've been bad.

Twenty minutes later, a freshly showered Ichigo emerged from the bathroom. He was fully dressed as he wanted to avoid the possibility meeting Rukia in the hallway while dressed only in a towel. Unless it was Rukia who was only wearing a towel, he was completely fine with that. _Not that it was ever going to happen_, Ichigo thought to himself, indulging his newfound perverted thoughts for once, rather than fighting them.

Rukia had lived in his room for two months and had managed to get changed perfectly well inside the closet. Not once had either of them walked in on one another in some state of undress. Not that Ichigo would have welcomed that at the time.

Ichigo paused when he reached the girls door, he couldn't hear any movement or voices inside, in fact the rest of the house was completely silent. Taking full advantage of this, Ichigo headed downstairs for a quiet breakfast before a hot, hectic day of being dragged round the shops.

It was dark downstairs, Ichigo made his way over the kitchenette and started making some coffee, he was midway through the proceedings when a zombie-like groa n from behind him made him jump out of his skin. Ichigo turned around and hit the lights.

"Aww fuck man, turn that off..." Renji groaned from the small sofa in the corner. He didn't look good. His floral shirt was covered in what looked like grass stains and he had something written on his forehead which Ichigo couldn't make out. His skin was a deathly shade of white and honestly, he looked ready to throw up at any moment.

In a rare moment of sympathy Ichigo turned off the lights and opened the blinds instead, thinking natural light might be the better option. "What happened to you?" he asked, although he couldn't stop a smile emerging as his sympathy disappeared.

Renji rubbed his temples, eyes screwed tight against the small amount of light coming in through the window. "Your Dad happened to me..." he grumbled.

Ichigo grinned, and leant in closer to Renji. "So..that's twice you've been beaten by a Kurosaki, huh?"

As if on cue Isshin came down the stairs, looking as fresh as a daisy, wearing a smug, triumphant smile on his face. "Your boy here can't hold his liquor!" he exclaimed, clapping Ichigo on the shoulder. "It was, quite frankly, embarrassing"

Renji regarded Isshin through narrowed eyes, although he was badly hung over, the murderous intent in his eyes was unmistakeable.

Ichigo was made up, this was great news, it looked like Renji was out of the way for the entire day, still it didn't hurt to be sure. "So, Renji, you won't be coming shopping with us then?" he asked, trying to sound as indifferent as possible.

"I don't think he can stand, let alone walk anywhere..." another voice sounded from the direction of the stairs. Ichigo's head snapped up. Rukia was stood in the doorway, arms folded, she did not look impressed. "Is this anyway to carry on _Abari..?_" she asked her colleague, using his last name just to irritate him. "I mean, a vice-captain, inebriated in the human world..." she continued. The Byakuya-like quality to her voice was uncanny and more than a little terrifying.

Renji groaned and rolled over so he was face down on the sofa. Ichigo was still looking at Rukia. She was in pyjamas, Ichigo recognised them as Yuzu's, although she must have asked to borrow them this time. He was still watching her as she began poking Renji hard in the back of the head, he smiled inwardly, the poor guy really wasn't having a good morning.

By this point Isshin had returned with two steaming mugs of coffee, one of which he placed on the floor next to Renji in another rare show of Kurosaki sympathy.

"Hey, is that my coffee?" Ichigo exclaimed, realising that his father had used all the coffee he had made for himself. So much for his quiet breakfast.

"Calm down, I put more of for you and Rukia-chan" Isshin said, sitting himself at the dining table.

Ichigo returned to the kitchen to continue what he had been doing before. Did Rukia like coffee? He wondered as he reached for a second mug, that seemed like something he should know. He knew Renji wasn't a fan, but Dad had no doubt given it to him as more of a hangover cure than anything else.

He decided to make one anyway, and was midway through pouring coffee into the mugs when he sensed a presence at his shoulder. It was Rukia, eyeing the brown liquid suspiciously.

Ichigo appraised her haircut, It was still short, which wasn't surprising considering it had only been a few months since he had last seen her. It now hung around her jawline rather than loosely around her shoulders. It somehow made her look younger and more mature all at the same time, while drawing attention to her large violet eyes, which at that moment widened with alarm.

"Err, Ichigo!" she yelped.

Snapped from his thoughts he followed her gaze back to the coffee which, having filled the mug, he was now pouring over the counter top. He cursed himself, then silently cursed Rukia for having such a distracting face. Throwing a dishcloth over the spill, he then decanted some of his overflowing mug into Rukia's before topping it up from the pot.

He played it safe and dropped two sugars into the mug before handing it to her. Rukia sniffed it warily, before taking a sip. She screwed her face up as if disgusted, but then carried on drinking it anyway. They took their drinks to the dining table and sat down.

"You know..." Ichigo said to Renji, who was still face down on the sofa, bent awkwardly as it wasn't long enough for his frame. "There is a larger sofa in the living room"

"What...?" came the muffled reply. He sat up, groggily and nursed his coffee. "You mean I didn't have to break my back on this thing all night?"

Ichigo laughed, "I though you were staying at Urahara's anyway?"

Isshin glanced up from his reading. "I carried him back here, it was closer"

Renji looked at Ichigo through bloodshot eyes. "Hey, Ichigo, seeing as you wont be using it and all...could I sleep in your bed?"

"Hell fucking no, you cannot sleep in my bed!" Ichigo snapped back, genuinely outraged.

"Now son..." Isshin cut in, "Abari-san is a guest, and we Kurosaki's are gracious in our victories!" he said, prompting a snort of laughter from Rukia. "Besides, Im sure if Rukia-chan wanted to crawl into your bed, you would be only too happy to oblige!"

Ichigo nearly spat out the mouthful of coffee he had just taken, he really needed to stop eating and drinking when his family was talking. Renji looked fit to throw up again, but that could be the alcohol rather than the thought of Rukia in Ichigo's bed. "Fine!" he spluttered, eager to end the conversation. "But...take a shower first okay?"

"Gotcha" Renji slurred as he stood slowly, he swayed from a moment on the spot before stumbling towards the stairs. He passed Yuzu on this way, who had just come downstairs, she waved him off, telling him where to find a towel.

After breakfast, Rukia got dressed and returned downstairs. Ichigo immediately recognised the pale blue and white dress she was wearing. It was the one Ishida had made for her after they have successfully stopped her execution in Soul Society.

"You still have that?" he asked.

"Of course" she replied, "Its been hanging in your sisters closet this whole time, she even washed and pressed it for me"

Ichigo just nodded, that sounded like Yuzu. They were getting prepared to leave when the doorbell rang.

"Ah!" Yuzu jumped up from the table, "That will be the hired help!"

"Hired help?" Ichigo asked, glancing at Rukia for an answer. He had hoped it would just be the two of them, plus Yuzu obviously.

"Of course!" Yuzu called back on her way to the door, "Rukia-chan needs girls opinions!"

Moments later Ichigo heard Inoue and Tatsuki's voices. "I'm happy to help Yuzu-chan.." he heard Inoue saying as she came up the hallway. "But I don't see what was so urgent that..."

She stopped dead and she rounded the corner and saw Rukia. For a moment her eyes registered no emotion, before she broke into a smile. "Kuchiki-san!" she exclaimed, crossing the room and taking Rukia by the hands. "Its so good to see you!"

Tatsuki waved, before turning to Yuzu, "So, what did you need our help with?" she asked, clearly Yuzu had been a little vague when she had asked them over.

"Ichi-nii is taking Rukia-chan shopping for clothes!" she exclaimed. "But she needs our opinions more than his"

Tatsuki groaned, "Clothes shopping!?" she whined.

Ichigo grunted, "Yeah, misery loves company" he replied, playing the stereotypical male despite the fact he was secretly looking forward to it. It was only then he glanced at Inoue. He could have sworn he saw jealousy in her eyes, but it was gone almost instantly.

"That's nice of you, Kurosaki-kun".

* * *

At Eleven AM on a Saturday, on a warm July day, Karakura Town's main shopping district was packed. Although the heatwave hadn't yet broken, in comparison to the day before the temperature was bearable and many people were out shopping, chatting and enjoying the sunshine.

Ichigo and the girls were sweating more than most though after stepping off the bus which seemed to have been doubling as a pressure cooker. Rukia looked around, clearly bewildered.

"So where do we start?" she asked Ichigo.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Well this was your idea..." she replied, glancing over her shoulder nervously, clearly uncomfortable around so many people. Which was odd, thought Ichigo, given that she grew up in Rukongai.

"Lets try this one" Yuzu piped up, taking Rukia's hand and leading her towards the nearest doorway. The window display showed mannequins wearing the latest fashions so it looked a suitable place to start. Ichigo caught sight of the price tag hanging off the nearest mannequins dress as he walked through the doors, it was suitably expensive too.

They walked into an large, air conditioned store. Away from the crowds outside Rukia seemed more comfortable, but that was until she took in the sheer scale of the place and what it had to offer.

Even Ichigo was taken aback, he had never seen such a selection of clothes, now he thought about it Yuzu hadn't been far off the mark when she said he wasn't exactly fashionable. Fortunately Inoue and Yuzu seemed to know exactly where they were going, and led Rukia away by the hand.

What followed was nearly an hour of walking passed rails that, to Ichigo, displayed clothes that looked no different to the ones before it. Clearly the price tag Ichigo had seen in the window wasn't a one off, how could some fabric cost so much? And they apparently had a sale on as well, which was hard to believe.

Rukia was hesitant at first, Ichigo heard lots of "I couldn't wear that" and "I would look silly", but the one comment he heard the most often was "How much is it?". After the ninth time she said he sighed.

"Would you quit worrying about the price, it really doesn't matter" he said despite the numbers he had been looking at since he walked through the door. He was also trying very hard to look completely uninterested in the distractingly tight looking pair of jeans that Inoue had just handed her.

"Aww..." Yuzu said, holding Rukia's previous selections in her arms. "Wouldn't Ichi-nii make a good boyfriend Rukia-chan?"

Rukia reddened at an alarming rate and Ichigo suddenly became very interested in the floor tiles.

"Yeah yeah, Ichigo's a real gentleman..." Tatsuki said, trying to derail the conversation for Orihime's sake. "Are you going to buy that Rukia?"

"I'm not sure..." she replied, holding up the jeans. "I prefer loose clothes, these look to tight"

"That's the point Kuchiki-san" Inoue said, "They are supposed to look good, not be comfortable!"

"Well what's point in that?" Rukia asked.

"Exactly!" Tatsuki sighed.

"They'll show off your legs..." Inoue replied, "And...will make you look taller."

That got Rukia's attention, "Okay, maybe I'll try them on" she said, passing them to Yuzu. Ichigo was perplexed, if he had said that to Rukia she would have punched him. It was at this point that Tatsuki spoke up again.

"Shouldn't you be carrying all those clothes Ichigo, rather than making your little sister carry them?" she asked with a smirk that said she clearly took Ichigo's 'misery loves company' comment far too seriously.

"Is it not enough that I'm paying?" he replied.

Before he could argue any further, a pile of clothes has heavy as they were expensive was thrust into his arms.

"So is this enough then?" he asked.

"Its enough to try on, lets go find a changing room!" Yuzu said.

Once they had located the changing rooms after even the experts had to ask a member of staff for directions, the girls disappeared to talk clothes. Orihime had also picked out a few things so they all disappeared into a changing room together. Except for Tatsuki of course, for whom the girlishness of the day seemed to be bringing out in rash, so she went outside for some air.

That left Ichigo alone on the shop floor, sitting on a row of chairs alongside a few other bored looking boyfriends who nodded to Ichigo knowingly, even though Rukia wasn't his girlfriend.

After maybe ten minutes of so, Inoue came out wearing short skirt that caught the attention of the other men in the line, who despite having girlfriends all murmured and nodded appreciatively. Ichigo wasn't looking at Inoue however, Rukia had followed her out and was wearing the jeans she had been looking at.

The girls were appraising their potential purchases using a floor to ceiling mirror that took up the wall at the back of the changing rooms. Ichigo had to bite his lip, he had never been more attracted to a woman in his life. They did, indeed make her look taller, she clearly though so too as she looked at her reflection. She seemed to be deciding whether to get them or not, her face still wasn't convinced.

_Get them! Please get them!_

Rukia turned to see her other side and as she turned her back on Ichigo he suddenly became very aware that it wasn't just her legs that the tightness of the jeans drew attention to. He had been contemplating joining Tatsuki outside, but at that moment it became almost painfully obvious that it was in his best interest to remain seated, standing simply wasn't an option.

He was still staring, open mouthed, when he realised Rukia was looking right back at him in the reflection. Ichigo immediately dropped his gaze and began counting floor tiles again, out of the corner of his eye he saw Rukia go back into the cubicle.

He was sweating now, and not because of the heat. She had caught him checking her out, there was no way she hadn't seen. It would have been obvious from where she was that his gaze was fixed on a certain location.

Should he say anything? Hell no, unless she brought it up, and even then he decided he should deny all knowledge. Why was he even looking in the first place? That was very unlike him. Ichigo had to be brutally honest with himself at this point, he was _very _attracted to Rukia. No girl had ever had _that _effect on him. Sure he had looked at some of the girls at school when they wore short skirts and the like, but he never felt anything.

He now felt like he had been kicked in the gut, but in a good way, his heart was racing and his palms were slick. He became aware of a powerful desire to touch her, which was something he had never felt either. He was...dare he think it..._yearning. _

_You like Rukia and you always have!_

With that still echoing around his head, It was at the moment that he was snapped from his terrifying thoughts by the reappearance of the girls. He glanced up, Rukia was back in her dress, but now Ichigo's brain was telling him that it somehow looked better on her than it had earlier, as if the sight of her in the jeans had put some kind of spell on him.

"Hey" he greeted them, luckily sounding calmer than he felt. "All done?"

Rukia smiled, "Yeah think so..." she trailed off, clearly unsure of how to ask her next question. Not that she needed to ask, clearly she had forgotten she was talking to Ichigo, who could read her like a book.

"Here..." he said, drawing a check card from his wallet, "Pay with that, don't tell me what it comes to, Yuzu knows the number, ill be waiting outside", then, feeling generous, he said to Inoue, "Put yours on there too". He didn't wait for an argument from either of them, he turned briskly on his heel, shoved his hands in his pockets and went to find Tatsuki.

He didn't have to look far, she was looking in the window of the videogame store next door. "Hey" he greeted her as he approached.

"Hey" she replied not turning from the window display, "All done?"

"They're just paying now" he replied, leaning against the wall of the store.

Tatsuki just nodded, then shot him a sideways glance. "So..." she started. "Taking Rukia shopping huh?"

Ichigo glared at her, he didn't like where this was headed. "Yeah...so?" he replied, defensively.

She shrugged, "Uncharacteristically kind of you" she said in a tone that sounded borderline pissed off.

"What's the big deal? You know she needs help with this kind of stuff, she's not from here, remember?" he replied with the excuse he had prepared in anticipation of Tatsuki questioning him.

She turned away from the window and leant on the wall next to him. "That's not what I meant, tell me Ichigo, when did you last take a girl shopping?"

Ichigo thought for a second, "I took Yuzu out for groceries the other day..." he offered weakly. Tatsuki shot him a look that told him he would need to do better than that. "And I paid for Inoue's stuff" he finished, jerking his head in the direction of the store.

"Only to seem fair, because you're not a jerk", she sighed. "Rukia said it herself, this was _your _idea, come on, you were hoping to be alone with her weren't you?"

"I really don't know what your getting at" he replied, although he couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze. Tatsuki however, was obviously feeling in a blunt mood, because what she said next nearly took Ichigo off his feet.

"You like Rukia don't you?"

Ichigo panicked, "What? Of course not!"

"Oh stop it Ichigo!" Tatsuki snapped angrily, "You might be able to bullshit your other moron friends but not me!".

Ichigo just stared, he hadn't even come to terms with it himself yet, he really wasn't prepared to hear it from someone else.

Tatsuki filled the silence, "You can deny it all you want, but if the rest of us weren't here, this would be a date, which is what you intended it to be, didn't you?"

Ichigo swallowed hard, he hadn't intended it to be a date when he offered to take Rukia shopping, but there was no denying that he wanted to spend some time alone with her. He could understand how it must look from Tatsuki's perspective. It was his sister that had invited them, not him and he couldn't help silently cursing her for that, even though she meant well.

Tatsuki still wasn't finished, "Its always the same story with you two, you need to figure out what you mean to each other and stop stringing other people along!"

Fortunately he was saved from having to respond by the reappearance of Rukia and the others, now laden with shopping bags, which were promptly passed to Ichigo at Yuzu's insistence. Deciding they wanted a drink, they set off down the street. The girls were chatting amongst themselves while Ichigo was lost in though.

Tatsuki wouldn't say anything, he knew that, even if she was spot on, but why was she so pissed? Ichigo tried to think of a reasonable argument to come back with when they continued their conversation, which they would, but he felt anxious.

Rukia had been back in the real world for less than twenty-four hours, and he had only admitted to himself that he _might _have feelings for her yesterday morning. Yet somehow his friend had already rumbled him. Honestly it was all moving too fast. What bothered him more was _how _Tatsuki had rumbled him, were his intentions that obvious?

No, they couldn't be, even he didn't know what they were. But if Tatsuki had noticed something between them, had anyone else? Had Inoue?

Then a thought struck him.

Was _that_ why Tatsuki was so pissed? His mind flashed back to his conversation with Keigo and Mizuiro the other day when they had both been completely convinced that Inoue had feelings for him. If they knew, Tatsuki would know.

_Is that what she meant by 'stringing other people along'?_

That must be it, he told himself, It wasn't that she didn't like Rukia, it was simply the prospect of Ichigo liking another girl must have sparked her temper out of loyalty to her best friend, and Ichigo could understand that.

He now felt terrible, if Inoue did like him then he had all but ignored her for the best part of two years and it had been begrudgingly that he had walked her home the other night, but Rukia comes back and he's spending thousands of yen on her the very next day.

Tatsuki was wrong, he was a jerk.

* * *

Oooookay torturing Ichigo is fun. I intended to upload this earlier but I got delayed, for that I blame work. I hope this was a fun to read as it was to write, I've stood patiently in enough department stores to be able to sympathise with Ichigo here, maybe that's why it was so easy to write.../shrug.

Anyways, hopefully will update as soon as I can.


	7. Wake up Call

"Yo, Ichigo!"

Ichigo had barely set foot in the front door before Renji appeared to greet him. This was three days in a row now he had been ambushed coming through the front door and it was starting to get weird.

"Yo..." he greeted back, but quickly realised Renji was now looking straight past him at Rukia, grinning like an idiot.

Rukia didn't return his smile. "You seem to have recovered..." she replied, flatly.

Ichigo pushed past him, eager to put down the heavy carrier bags which had been cutting into his fingers for the entire morning.

"Jeez how much did you buy?" Renji asked, scratching his head.

Yuzu felt the need to reply to that. "A girl needs a varied wardrobe!" she stated, walking thorough to the dining room, clearly keen to unpack Rukia's, or rather Ichigo's, purchases.

Ichigo turned to Renji, "Apparently varied means expensive as fu..." he stopped speaking as he took notice of what Renji was wearing for the second time in as many days. "Are those my Pyjama bottoms...?"

Renji looked down, "Oh yeah, didn't have anything to change into, don't worry you'll get them back"

Suddenly a nauseating thought struck Ichigo, "Please tell me you're wearing underwear!?"

"Underwhat?"

Ichigo shuddered, "I don't want them back!" he snapped, making his way to the living room so he could sulk in front of the TV. As he flopped down onto the sofa he heard Yuzu's shrill voice.

"Lets unpack these upstairs Rukia-chan, so we can hang them right away!" he shrieked.

"Oh...okay..." Rukia replied, even though Yuzu had already started dragging her away .

Ichigo couldn't help another smile, he must thank Rukia for humouring his sister all day. Renji came into the living room and crashed onto the other end of the sofa, hooking one arm across the back. He yawned and scratched he armpit casually. Ichigo looked at him with disgust.

"Will you put a freaking shirt on!? I though I told you not to hang around here" he snapped.

"Relax man, I only just woke up, I'll be gone by tonight don't worry" Renji replied, snatching the remote from Ichigo's hand and changing the channel without asking.

Ichigo just sighed, "You're taking this vacation thing way too seriously"

Renji laughed as he flicked channels. "TV is amazing..." he said, waving a hand in the direction of the screen, "Its a wonder you humans get anything done". With that, he settled on an awful daytime soap opera, still smiling like he had won the lottery.

"Simple pleasures for simple minds I guess" Ichigo said, shaking his head, although he couldn't help somewhat envying Renji's ability to extract joy out of the smallest of things, it wasn't a side of the man that Ichigo had ever seen before.

"So how's things in Soul Society?" Ichigo asked, he wasn't one for small talk but on this occasion he did genuinely want to know.

Renji shrugged, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Quiet, for the first time in a long time..." he said, almost as if it was a bad thing. "The war's over and Aizen is under lock and key, even after all this time the Gotei Thirteen are still trying to get back to normal"

Ichigo nodded, turning back to the screen. "I noticed Rukia's finally been made a Lieutenant".

"Yeah, about time..." Renji breathed, "She worked ten times harder than any seated officer I have ever met, Captains Ukitaki probably would have done it sooner but you know, things happened..." he finished, still not looking at Ichigo but his gaze did drop from the TV screen to the floor.

_Yeah, you dragged her away to be executed. _

Ichigo tried to ignore the bitter thought that flashed through his mind. "Yeah, I think Soul Society owed her that at least..." he grunted.

"She still works herself crazy though", Renji replied, changing the subject.

While Ichigo was pleased that Rukia was finally getting the recognition she deserved, he was also aware that Lieutenants didn't get posted to the real world on the kind of long-term detachments that she had been on when they first met, which meant this his seeing Rukia would be brief...and rare.

He realised that maybe that was why he wanted to make the most of the time that she was here. He never knew when he might see her again so he had to seize the opportunity to spend time with her. If that meant that his friends, Tatsuki especially became suspicious then so be it. During her stay the first time around, rumours of their being together spread through the school like wildfire, something that Ichigo was sure Mizuiro played no small part it.

When Rukia had left, all memory of her existence in the real world was erased from the minds of everyone, with the exception of Ichigo and his small circle of friends. Ichigo found himself quite looking forward to Monday, even though Rukia's presence would take some explaining, it would be just like old times, for a while at least.

Ichigo would happily endure all those rumours again if it meant having Rukia around for a little longer, and that was so pathetic he wanted to beat _himself _up.

* * *

Eventually the evening drew in and Renji took himself off to Urahara's. Ichigo was in his room as he suddenly remembered, with a jolt, the mountain of homework he had to hand in on Monday.

He had been sitting at his desk for what felt like days, but he was making steady progress. Somehow in the space of twenty-four hours the solutions to the maths problems he had been struggling with became obvious. One thing Ichigo was certain of was that fact that once he was done with High school he never wanted to see a complex set of numbers again.

He was just finishing a monster of a problem when there's was a soft knock at the door. "Yeah?" he called as he swivelled in his chair, Rukia's head appeared round the corner.

"Since when do you knock?" he asked as he turned back to his work.

Rukia said nothing, she just crossed the room and sat on his bed, where she stayed, staring at her hands which were folded in her lap. Surprised, and a little concerned, Ichigo turned back round to face her.

"What's with you? You okay?"

Rukia replied, but it was so quiet Ichigo didn't hear her.

He sighed, "Rukia, I can't hear what you're sa..." he started, but she cut him off.

"Thank you for today!" she said, quickly and sharply.

_Where did that come from?_

Ichigo was shocked, he wasn't expecting a thank you, he certainly didn't require one, not from her. This was emotion run amok for Rukia and Ichigo decided he needed to try and brush it off.

He turned back to his work, "Damn right you should be grateful..." he sighed, "I'm broke now thanks to you..."

Rukia prickled at that, "What!? You said it didn't matter how much it cost!" she yelled.

Ichigo didn't turn to face her. "Did I? Must have hit my head harder than I thought when you ambushed me last night"

He knew she would be getting angry by now, and he couldn't help indulging in a childish smirk as he pretended to do his homework. The smile was soon wiped from his face when he was smacked over the head with his own school bag.

Cursing, he cried out as he toppled from his chair for the second time in as many days. He rubbed his head and glared a Rukia, there must still be a textbook in that bag he had forgotten all about. She was standing on his bed, looking down at him with her big, violet eyes. Ichigo felt his pulse quicken at the sight of them.

Rukia's expression softened, "Still an asshole I see, you don't change do you?"

Picking himself up off the floor he couldn't help smirking again. "Wish I could say the same for you, getting all mushy on me like that..." he groaned and rubbed his head again, "At least you still hit like the old Rukia"

"I _am _the old Rukia!" she snapped back, dropping the bag and sitting back down on his bed, making a show of crossing her arms and turning away. She wasn't really angry, they were both just letting off steam and they knew it. This was the first proper conversation they'd had in two years as they really didn't get time to talk following the whole Ginjo incident.

It felt, to Ichigo, that it was almost a test. They were making sure they were the same people after all this time. She knew how she expected him to respond, she seemed to think she still had him figured out after all this time. Maybe she did, but that didn't mean Ichigo couldn't throw her a curve ball for fun.

Ichigo sat back down too, this time it was his turn to say nothing, he just looked at her. I didn't take long before it made Rukia uneasy.

"Idiot, why do you keep staring at me like that?"

Ichigo had decided on his curve ball.

"Why did you cut your hair?" Ichigo asked flatly, this took Rukia by surprise, she blushed before she could stop herself.

"What? My hair? Why does it matter why I cut it?" she replied, a bit flustered. Ichigo wasn't usually this observant, she was convinced he hadn't even noticed. In truth she had it cut when she was promoted to Lieutenant, she thought it made her look more responsible.

"Just curious." he shrugged, secretly pleased with himself for getting the flustered reaction he wanted, the blush was a bonus though.

"Ichi-nii! Rukia-chan! Dinners ready!" Yuzu called from downstairs.

Rukia stood, "Its _my_ hair, I'll do what I like!" she snapped over her shoulder as she made for the door. "You don't have to like it!".

Ichigo also stood, turning back towards his desk to close his books as he did so, grinning broadly. He had missed Rukia's tantrums, but he wasn't done. "That's funny, I never said I didn't like it" he called back as casually as he could, knowing full well the effect it would have.

Rukia stopped in the doorway, but she didn't turn back to face him, she couldn't, she didn't need to look in a mirror to know that she would be a bright shade of crimson, she could feel the blush spreading up her face.

Then suddenly Ichigo was next to her, brushing past her with just enough lingering physical contact to make sure that blush wasn't going anywhere fast. "And you're welcome" he said to her quietly, leaning down so she could feel his breath on her neck, before pushing past and heading downstairs for dinner.

Rukia just stood there for a moment, thinking that there must be something wrong with this Gigai as she couldn't move at all. "You idiot..." she half-breathed, half-whispered, looking down at her hand, very aware that she couldn't stop it trembling. So that's the way Ichigo wanted to play, was it? Well, she would make sure he paid for that.

* * *

Ichigo had a smug smile on his face when he sat at the dining table, even more so when he noticed Rukia didn't follow him straight down. He had no idea what made him come over so brave and cocky, but he couldn't deny it was fun. Maybe it was just a result of seeing Rukia again after all this time. She had lead with the traditional physical slap and he had countered with a hormonal one.

"Where's Rukia-chan?" Yuzu asked him, passing Ichigo his meal.

"She'll be right down..." he replied.

_I assume. _

Right on cue, Rukia entered the dining room, smiling broadly. She sat opposite Ichigo as she had the night before.

"Thank you, Yuzu" she beamed sweetly when her meal was put in front of her, but the look she shot Ichigo over the table was anything but sweet. It was a look that promised great pain.

Ichigo concentrated on his meal, eating only to stop himself from laughing. He would, no doubt, regret messing with Rukia tomorrow, but he felt like enjoying it for now.

"Today was fun, wasn't it Rukia-chan?" Yuzu said, "It was really sweet of Ichigo to buy you all those things."

Ichigo glared at his younger sister, he really needed to teach her a little word call subtlety. He was glad his father wasn't there to make a big deal out of it, unfortunately he forgot that Karin _was _there.

"Very sweet Ichigo..." she said mockingly, then added in a quieter tone, "Although if _that's_ what you're after it would've been cheaper to get her drunk!"

Ichigo, having learned his lesson, had already swallowed what he had been eating, so there was no choking at Karin's comment. Even so it wasn't something he wanted to hear from his little sister, even if it was terrifyingly accurate.

"What did you say!?" he asked in a tone that let her know he wasn't impressed.

Rukia pretended she hadn't heard what Karin had said, and instead decided to answer Yuzu. "Yes, today was a lot of fun..." then fixed her gaze on Ichigo, "...and while I greatly appreciate Ichigo's kindness, I want him to know that I will _pay him back_"

Ichigo, didn't meet her gaze, he knew full well she wasn't referring to the clothes. "That's okay..." he said between mouthfuls, still not taking his eyes of his plate, "I _enjoyed _it"

He wasn't referring to the clothes either, and he was well aware digging himself a deeper hole, but just in case he was in any doubt Rukia retaliated with a swift kick to the shin under the table. He took and deep breath and endured the pain, glaring at Rukia as he did so.

"You enjoyed _clothes _shopping?" Karin asked, somewhat concerned.

Ichigo didn't reply, he _had _enjoyed the clothes shopping, but for reasons he wasn't about to discuss with his sisters.

After dinner, Ichigo decided to return to his homework. As he trudged up the stairs he spotted something in the middle of the hallway. Kon had tactically deployed himself outside the girls doorway, as if carelessly dropped, no doubt hoping that Yuzu would come by and take him into her room.

_So he can crawl into bed with Rukia. _

Ichigo stood on him as he passed, but was impressed when Kon didn't make a sound.

"Very good..." he murmured quietly as he reached for his door handle. "But you don't need to try so hard, my sister isn't coming"

"Shut up!" Kon hissed back, remaining completely motionless, "Do me a favour and open the door will you?"

"No" Ichigo dead panned as he shut his door behind him. Ichigo returned his chair to the upright position and sat himself back down. Somehow the homework monster seemed to have grown during dinner.

Ichigo picked up his pen and got back to it. He steeled himself, he wanted to get all this done tonight.

He didn't want any distractions tomorrow.

* * *

Tomorrow seemed to come around too quickly, that was Ichigo's first thought when he woke up, but he quickly realised it was still dark.

_Why am I awake? _

He could smell something, but he wasn't sure what it was. Then he heard the noise that had woke him.

Shriek! Shriek! Shriek!

Cursing, Ichigo sat up and reached for the combat pass of his desk, but it wasn't there. Groping blindly in the darkness, he became aware of the flashing eyes in the dark but, they seemed to be in front of him?

He then realised they were getting closer.

"Too slow!" Rukia shouted as she smacked him on the forehead with the combat pass. She then turned and switched on the desk lamp.

Ichigo pulled himself upright, still cursing. "Shit, shit, shit, what the hell Rukia?" he grumbled as he turned to face her.

He froze.

"What do you mean 'What the hell'?" she snapped, holding the phone so he could see the screen. "An order came in three minutes ago, and you were still sleeping, its not good enough Ich..." she hesitated, "What are you staring at _now_!?"

"Is that a nightie?" he asked, trying desperately not to look at her legs which were exposed to the upper thigh. It must be something she picked up at the store.

"Yes its a nightie!" she snapped back.

"And...are you wearing...perfume?" Ichigo asked suddenly realising what it was he could smell earlier, now staring at the ceiling because he could feel his willpower beginning to crumble.

"If you must know, its perfumed deodorant! I..." she stopped and rethought that, "_you..._bought it for me yesterday"

_Yesterday? _

Ichigo looked at the clock, dismayed that it read just before two-AM.

"Anyway, that doesn't matter right now!" she snapped again, before pressing the combat pass to her chest to transfer to her own Shinigami form. She turned quickly and caught her body, which was handy as Ichigo was about to see more than her thighs. Unfortunately she then dumped her body into his bed and pulled the cover over both of them, Ichigo turned a bright shade of red, which then became a dark shade of purple.

"Lets go!" she called, climbing over them to the open window.

"What are you doing!? You can't leave our bodies...in bed...together!" he stammered, unable to believe the words he'd just said.

"Relax you fool, its not like they're going to do anything while we're gone, unless you'd prefer if I went and got Kon and Chappy?"

"No I would not prefer that!" he spluttered as he also climbed over his bed, making double sure that he didn't touch any part of Rukia's body.

Rukia just rolled her eyes, so much for all that bravado earlier, despite his prudish nature, she though it might take a little more than just a short nightie and some feminine fragrance to even the score. Although she had to admit, putting them in bed together was a nice touch.

"What if someone comes in?" he whined. "What if _my father _comes in!?"

Rukia ignored him and jumped from the window ledge.

"Shit..." Ichigo was really flustered now, he looked back at his bed, "SHIT!..."

_She is so doing this on purpose!_

With that thought, he leapt after her.

It didn't take them long to find the Hollow. It was an enormous beast, resembling some kind of four armed ape. Its Mask however reminded Ichigo of a warthog. From their position in the sky, they could clearly see it prowling around a quiet residential district, as if it were looking for something.

Rukia pulled her phone back out. "There's a bounty on this Hollow..." she said, pushing buttons to scroll through the information. "Be careful Ichigo, its wounded at least three Shinigami, one badly"

"You wont be helping then?" he breathed, drawing Zangetsu from his back.

"I hardly think you'll need any help..." she replied, flipping the cellphone shut and putting it back inside her robes. "Besides my orders were to_ observe, _so get to it!" she said, jerking her head in the direction of the Hollow while sounding far too much like her brother.

Ichigo took a deep breath and then descended on the Hollow, he wasn't going to drag this out, if it was as dangerous as Rukia says he just needed to kill quickly. Some sort of sixth sense must have alerted the Hollow to his presence, because it looked up, but far too slowly, Ichigo brought Zangetsu down straight at the mask.

In an unexpected show of agility the Hollow dove aside, Ichigo's great cleaver instead carving a bloody furrow down the length of one of the beasts arms. It howled with pain, and backed away from Ichigo, who had landed in front of it, poised for another attack.

"My arm!..." the Hollow cried, its voice was like gravel. "One of my beautiful arms!". Ichigo watched as the beast tried to move it wounded arm, but it wasn't responding, the effort just caused more blood to flow from the gaping cut. The creature fixed Ichigo with a beady eyed stare, as if sizing him up. "You're pretty fast for a Shinigami!" it hissed.

"You're pretty fast for a Hollow..." Ichigo taunted back, slinging Zangetsu over one shoulder. "Just not fast enough" he shrugged. Ichigo tried not to be too cocky, there were houses on either side of them, and he knew that one wrong move could result in innocent people getting hurt. Better to kill it cleanly before it could do any more damage, besides a few flattened fences.

"Oh-ho, you want to see fast do you?", the monster chuckled throatily and with that it vanished before Ichigo' eyes.

_What!?_

"Behind you, fool!" Rukia called.

Ichigo didn't need to be told, he felt the giant fist heading towards him long before he saw it. He jumped forwards, turning a full one-hundred-and-eighty degrees as he did so. The fist struck the ground where he had been standing with far less force than Ichigo expected, although it still dug a shallow hole in garden they were in, the owners would be scratching their heads over that one in the morning. He knew that speed wasn't everything, but even so he had never seen a regular Hollow move so fast. Howling with a mixture of pain and rage, the Hollow raised another fist brought it down hard where Ichigo was now standing.

This time Ichigo wasn't dodging, based on how hard the previous attack had struck the ground, he didn't need to. Instead he brought Zangetsu up as the fist barreled towards him, which it struck with a wet squelch, embedding the blade deep into the beasts massive fingers. Ichigo felt a jolt run through his arm, but as he expected, there was little force behind it, certainly not enough to concern him.

The Hollow was stunned, this Shinigami had stopped his blow effortlessly. That attack had never failed before. "Impressive..." it breathed through the pain, "I've taken down three Shinigami with that little combo, you're something else".

This time it was Ichigo's turn to chuckle, as he watched blood run down Zangetsu's broad surface and drip to the floor in front of his feet. Forget the bounty, this creature wasn't dangerous at all, how did any Shinigami fall prey to that attack? It was a clever trick, but nothing more.

_Don't get cocky, just kill it! Rukia's watching..._

Pulling its hand free of Zangetsu's blade, the Hollow backed away from Ichigo again. Blood was pouring in a torrent from its wounded hand and arm, which was now hanging limp at its side.

"What are you doing!?" Rukia shouted again, "Finish it off!"

"Yeah yeah!" Ichigo called back. He really should end this.

The monster raised another, uninjured fist and, blind to its previous stupidity, charged Ichigo again. This time however, Ichigo pushed off with his right foot and sprang forward to meet it as fast as he could. Everything was now happening in slow motion to him as he swung Zangetsu over his head and brought it down in a broad, right-to-left sweep, the monsters gaze was still rooted to the spot where he had been standing, which meant it couldn't follow his movements. It probably didn't even know what had happened as Zangetsu pierced its mask, cleaving a bloody swathe through its head.

Ichigo didn't even need to look to know it was dead, it had started to disappear before it had even hit the ground. Instead he made his way back to Rukia.

"That took you long enough" she quipped. She knew she was being overly critical, but she wasn't going to congratulate him on killing one Hollow.

"It was no trouble, although..." Ichigo said, looking at the spot where the Hollow had been. "Have you ever seen a normal Hollow move that fast? It was almost like a flash step"

Rukia shook her head, "I haven't, and its nothing I've ever heard of" she said, turning to face him. "As you know, the only Hollows we've seen that can move that fast have been Adjuchas class or higher"

"Whatever..." Ichigo breathed, "Its dead now"

Rukia nodded, "I'll report it, but I don't think we need be overly concerned", she huffed, before turning and heading home.

* * *

Wow long delay, sorry folks, I have no excuse, just real life and stuff /shrug.

Felt the need to break my own rule regarding Hollow fights and include one, seeing as Rukia is supposed to be appraising Ichigo's performance (Not in that way...) I feel it turned out all right, I hope you guys think so too. I wont be making a habit of it.

Next update will be a lot sooner, I promise.


	8. Sleepless Night

Back at the house, Ichigo decided to let Rukia enter her body first, but he still kept his gaze rooted to the floor as she swept past him, her toned, milky white legs very much on display. He would never think her school skirt was revealing ever again.

"Goodnight Ichigo" she said as she tiptoed out the door.

"Yeah, night" he replied, still studying the floorboards. Rukia just shook her head and shut the door as quietly as she could. Ichigo flopped back into his body, instantly aware of how warm the bed was, that and the fact it smelled like Rukia.

He checked the clock, it was just past three-AM now. Too early to get up, but Ichigo was now wide awake, even though it was gone midnight before he even got to bed after finishing all that homework.

"Stupid Rukia...smooth legs...smells nice." he grumbled to himself as he turned off the lamp. Thankfully no one had been awake to see Rukia creeping out of Ichigo's room, not wearing much at three in the morning, that would have taken some explaining.

As he lay there, his conversation with Tatsuki came back to him.

_'You need to figure out what you mean to each other' _

That was easier said than done, what did they mean to each other exactly? They had always been close, and Ichigo was now fully aware that she meant more to him than a friend. However he looked at it, he had been flirting with her earlier. He hadn't meant to at the time, but it just came so easily, he couldn't control himself. Its not something he ever would have dreamed of doing before, for starters he wouldn't have known how and Rukia no doubt would have beaten him to within an inch of his life for trying.

But she hadn't done that tonight, if anything she had responded. The nightie was payback for earlier, he was aware of that and he had to admit, putting them in bed together was a finishing touch so evil that only Rukia could have dreamt it up. But the fact was that she had _chosen_ to respond that way, she could have just as easily punched him, which would have been more her style, but instead she chose to retaliate in kind.

_Is she flirting with me in her own way? _

He instantly felt stupid for thinking that, this was _Rukia _after all. She didn't flirt, at least not with him. She was a Shinigami, she wouldn't be interested in a human boy. Although the thought sickened him, she was more likely to be with someone like Renji. For all he knew, she could be with someone, he hadn't seen her for nearly two years. She hadn't exactly asked him if he had a girlfriend either, its not something they would ever ask each other.

Ichigo rolled over, abandoning all hope of sleep if his mind kept this up.

What was he hoping for anyway? Did he want a relationship with her? Was that even possible?

Somehow he couldn't imagine Rukia being called anyone's girlfriend, least of all his. He couldn't imagine having a girlfriend either, having never had one. But for all that, he knew that if he _did _have a girlfriend, he would want it to be Rukia.

He had never met a woman like her before, and never would. She was completely unique. He realised at that moment that she had unwittingly cursed him, because no other woman would ever be good enough now. No one would ever understand him the way she did.

Ichigo pulled his pillow over his head, disgusted with himself. Was he seriously doing this? Eighteen years without "Girl trouble" and now he was completely hopeless within twenty-four hours.

No, that was wrong, it was much longer than that. He had had feelings for Rukia for a long time now, but _this _was the moment his brain decided to make sense of them. After everything they had been through together, maybe it was only natural for feelings to develop.

Ichigo tossed and turned, unable to shut his mind down and get some much needed sleep. Rukia just went around and around in his head. What was killing Ichigo was the fact that Rukia was only down the hall, at least when she was in Soul Society she was unreachable. Was _she_ awake right now, staring at the ceiling? Should he go in and talk to her? No, that wouldn't achieve anything.

_What would you even say? _

Ichigo sat up and rubbed his temples, this was absurd. His feelings towards Rukia were irrelevant. She wasn't that kind of girl, their relationship was just fine the way it was. She had enough to deal with without some stupid hormonal kid following her around like a dog with its tongue out, besides Ichigo wasn't that guy. Why try to fix something that wasn't broken?

Ichigo let his hands fall into his lap and for a while he just stared at the bed covers. At the end of the day, anything he could say to alter there relationship might make Rukia even _less _likely to visit, he could effectively scare her off. After all, she had only been back a day, why not enjoy the time they had left in each others company as they always had.

_My imagination is running away with me, that's all. _

Feeling better about his situation, Ichigo lay back down to give sleeping another try.

* * *

It didn't work.

"Good morning, Ichigo!" Isshin exclaimed, far too loudly, as Ichigo staggered downstairs for breakfast. His expression turned blank when he saw the condition of his son. "Ichigo? Are you all right lad?"

"Yeah Ichigo..." Karin said, looking up from her breakfast, "You look awful, did you sleep _at all _last night?"

_No, _Ichigo thought, _I didn't. _He was so tired he could practically _feel _the bags under his eyes, yet if he tried to sleep, he would only do exactly what he had been doing since three o'clock that morning, which was stare at the ceiling and think of Rukia.

"Not really..." he breathed, slumping down at the dining table. Yuzu, her face etched with concern, jumped up. "I'll make you some coffee, Ichi-nii!" she said, heading for the Kitchen.

"Thanks..." he grunted after her.

It was at this point that Rukia glided into the room. Ichigo couldn't help shooting her a dark look, she certainly didn't look like she had lost any sleep. She looked...well fantastic frankly, which pissed Ichigo off even more.

"Morning" she greeted them, "Oh dear, Ichigo, rough night was it?" she asked, sounding sincere yet Ichigo knew full well she was taunting him.

He opened his mouth to say 'Yeah, no thanks to you' but luckily stopped himself when he realised how that would sound to other parties present, namely his father. He just grunted again, trying not to focus on the fact that the white strappy top she was wearing was much lower cut than anything he had seen her wear before, the fact that she had teamed it with a short, pale blue skirt was just kicking a man when he was down.

Yuzu set the coffee in front of Ichigo, then asked Rukia is she wanted one, which she politely declined. Ichigo felt awful, not only had he not gotten any sleep, but even though he had promised himself that he wasn't going to pursue things with Rukia any further, all he could think about at the moment was how far her skirt rode up as she sat down next to him, plus he could clearly see the strap of a white bra.

_Kill me! KILL ME NOW!_

Deciding that taking her shopping for clothes was one of the poorer decisions he had made recently, he just stared mutely into his coffee. Fearing for his self control, he actually hoped she _hadn't _bought those jeans, as that would be an end of it. He actually found himself looking forward to school tomorrow, for once the monotonous note taking would provide a welcome distraction for once.

Deciding that a walk might clear his head and help him to wake up, he drained his coffee and headed for the door. "I'm gonna take a walk..." he called to no one in particular.

"I'll come with you" Rukia replied, right on cue, as Ichigo knew she would. When the door clicked shut, Yuzu sighed.

"What is it Yuzu?" Isshin asked.

"Nothing..." she breathed, taking Ichigo's empty mug to the kitchen.

* * *

Despite the morning chill, it was clear that it was going to be another scorching day, even so there was a comfortable breeze. Ichigo and Rukia walked in silence. He had no real destination in mind, but he had always taken comfort from walks.

From the day Rukia first arrived, she had tagged along on these walks, never asking where they were going, she never said anything really. This was one of those times, she just quietly walked beside Ichigo. Although he looked shattered, she could tell he wasn't upset, this was just Ichigo being Ichigo, always playing the sullen, moody type even though she could see the faintest traces of a smile tugging at his mouth.

Ichigo felt better now he was outside, he wasn't upset at all, far from it. This felt normal, just the two of them walking together and after the mental and emotional roller coaster that was yesterday and last night, he was glad to have a bit of normal.

"You want some breakfast?" he asked casually, suddenly feeling hungry.

Rukia looked up at him. "I guess I could eat, although couldn't your sister make us something?"

Ichigo didn't turn to face her, he just carried on walking, "I don't like to rely on her too much, especially at the weekend, Its bad enough she caters for everyone during the week, not to mention the housework and now school..." he said, "Besides, sometimes only junk food will do". He looked over his shoulder at her, "So, you want breakfast or not?"

Rukia smiled, but it was one of her smug, arrogant smiles. "Sure okay, although you made it clear yesterday that you have spent too much money on me already..." she quipped, "I wouldn't want to be a financial _burden!" _

"Don't worry..." Ichigo replied, taking her by the hand and dragging her towards the nearest fast food outlet, "I'm sure you'll _pay me back" _he smirked.

_You're flirting again, and holding her hand! _

Ichigo ignored his thoughts, just because he wasn't going to ask her out, it didn't mean he couldn't indulge in some of his newly discovered fun. Besides, any shred of self control he did have was long gone, the skirt and low-top combo saw to that.

Once they had ordered, which Ichigo had to do for Rukia as she had no idea what she was looking at, they sat down at a table near the window. Ichigo ate hungrily, but Rukia was picking at the food which looked suspiciously like a cheeseburger although Ichigo assured her it wasn't. She had, however, ordered a coffee without any input from him.

"I told you, its not a cheeseburger...its a breakfast sandwich" he said with his mouth full.

"Well, it looks like that cheeseburger thing I had once" she muttered, lifting the top bun to inspect inside.

Ichigo recalled she had very much enjoyed her first fast food experience. "Try it, trust me you'll like it".

Rukia shrugged and took a small, tentative bite, then her eyes widened and she took another, much larger bite.

"Told you..." Ichigo chuckled, Rukia ignored him.

It was quiet in the restaurant, being a Sunday there were no early morning commuters. Rukia seemed very relaxed, watching people come and go through the window, a few came in. One of them, a young man about Ichigo's age, took a long, appreciative look at Rukia's legs as he passed, and none too subtly either. He then smiled at her before going to the counter to order his food to takeaway. He made to repeat the process on his way out, but thought better of it when under Ichigo's witheringly intense stare.

Rukia looked at Ichigo, concern in her eyes. "Ichigo, why did he keep looking at me, is there something on my face?".

Ichigo was still busy trying to burn a hole in the back of the man's head with his gaze, so it was a while before he responded.

"Ichigo?" Rukia insisted.

"Huh?" Ichigo replied, suddenly realising she was talking to him. "No there is nothing on your face, he was looking at...you"

"I know, that's why I'm asking"

Ichigo stopped eating and looked at her, for a lethal warrior and now a high ranking officer, she was surprisingly naïve about some things. He thought carefully about what to say next, aware that it might put him in a situation that he might not be able to talk himself out of.

"Are you seriously telling me..." he said carefully, "..that you've never had a guy _look _at you before"

"What kind of question is that? You're looking at me right now!"

Ichigo squeezed the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb, sighing deeply.

Rukia finally caught on. "Ohh!" she exclaimed, "You mean he was looking..._at _me?". She suddenly felt very self conscious, she tugged on the hem of her skirt as if she thought it was too short all of a sudden.

Ichigo returned his attention to his meal, "Its a compliment, take it as one..." he muttered before finishing off his meal.

After breakfast they continued their walk and before long they found themselves in a more built up area, the increasingly busy side walks lined with shops and proper restaurants instead of fast food outlets. Ichigo knew this area well, just coming up on his right was the bookstore where he had purchased Rukia's mangas, although he still hadn't figured out how to give them to her yet. The restaurants however gave him an idea which he stored for later.

Ichigo couldn't help smiling to himself, ahead of him was the intersection where he had first laid eyes on Rukia. He had been running to the aid of the spirit of a girl that had died near here as she was being attacked by a Hollow. Before he knew it Rukia had descended from the rooftops, killing the Hollow effortlessly.

Rukia probably hadn't noticed and it was at the moment he realised that she was no longer beside him.

Praying that she hadn't gone into the book store, Ichigo spun round and spotted her, luckily she was looking into the window of another shop altogether. Ichigo didn't feel so lucky when he realised the window display just showed more clothes.

"Surely you don't need _more _clothes?" he asked, swearing he could feel his wallet retreat deeper into his pocket.

"Your sister said a girl can't have too many clothes!" she replied, crouching down to look at a pair of shoes next to the mannequins feet.

Ichigo decided to use this opportunity to broach a subject that had been bothering him. "You're not even going to get a chance to wear all the ones you bought yesterday!" he grunted as he started walking again, trying to sound as indifferent as possible.

She opened her mouth to reply, but sensing she would only be telling Ichigo what she thought he wanted to hear, she closed it again.

* * *

What had started out as a morning walk had become a day out. Ichigo only realised when he looked at his watch and saw it was nearly six-o'clock. As shadows began to lengthen and the sun started to set, they found themselves beside the canal.

Ichigo parked himself on a bench and Rukia sat herself down beside him, finishing off the latest of three Ice-creams Ichigo had bought her throughout what had been a very hot day.

Ichigo smiled, it had been a good day. They didn't do much, just walked around town, Rukia window shopped and Ichigo just enjoyed her company. They got another fast food lunch before having to deal with a Hollow, which they dispatched quickly, luckily It wasn't as fast as the one from the night before.

Rukia finished her Ice-cream and sat back. "Ichigo, there's something I need to do tonight..." she said matter-of-factly. "I can't guarantee when I'll be home"

Ichigo looked at her, trying hard not to look concerned. "Like what?"

"Does it matter? I just have some things to take care of before tomorrow, I'm not going to disappear don't worry!" she said, knowing she was teasing him.

"Did I say I was worried?" he huffed as he looked back out over the canal. They lapsed into silence for a few seconds, a young couple walked past, chatting quietly, although Ichigo noticed the guy steal a sneaky glance at Rukia while his girlfriend was preoccupied with her phone.

Rukia had noticed too.

"Take it as a compliment..." he sighed once they had passed, repeating what he had said earlier.

Rukia smirked, suddenly remembering the mirror incident from yesterday. She decided that now was the time to take the lead in their little game. "So..." she started, turning away so Ichigo couldn't see the mischievous glint in her eye. "Does that mean you were _complimenting _me at the clothes store yesterday then?"

Ichigo was caught so off guard he nearly fell off the bench, blushing so furiously he looked like he was about to explode. Was he hyperventilating? Rukia wondered.

He started to sputter but he couldn't form a sentence. Rukia couldn't help laughing. All Ichigo could do was turn away and stare at the pavement, his 'deny all knowledge' plan was in tatters.

Suddenly however, he came over _very _brave.

_She's expecting an answer... _

He took a deep breath, trying to calm his hammering heart. She had given him a perfect opening.

_Screw It. Go for it! _

"Rukia...I..." he started.

"Yo!" a familiar voice cut him off.

Both Rukia and Ichigo jumped out of their skin. Renji was stood right behind them, hands in his pockets, looking out over the canal.

"Renji!" Ichigo yelled, "What are you doing here!?"

Renji, having no idea he had just sabotaged what could have been an important moment, looked down at Ichigo. "Am I interrupting something?"

_Yes! Get lost! _

"No" Rukia replied before Ichigo had a chance to say anything.

"That's good then" Renji said, climbing over the back of the bench and squeezing himself between Ichigo and Rukia. Ichigo couldn't help pouting as Renji beamed at Rukia.

"How did you even find us?" Ichigo asked, getting more and more pissed off.

"That's for me to know..."

"Then would you mind telling us what you want!?" Ichigo snapped back through gritted teeth.

"I just wanted to know..." Renji replied, still looking at Rukia. "..If Rukia wanted to get some dinner with me?"

_Oh fuck no! _

"Hey!" Ichigo snarled, "_I _was going to offer to buy Rukia dinner!"

"Actually...umm.." Rukia started, but was quickly cut off by Renji.

"Oh yeah...?" he said, rounding on Ichigo, "With what money? Rukia spent it all yesterday!"

"So you have money do you!?" Ichigo growled, to the two men's foreheads were now pressing together. Rukia meanwhile was getting pushed off the far end, as the bench was only really designed for two people, even if one of them was as tiny as her.

"I have...enough..." Renji snapped.

"How much is 'Enough'!?", Ichigo retorted.

"I can match whatever you would spend!"

"Oh I doubt that!"

"I don't!..." Renji spat, "I saw how much Rukia bought!"

"SHUT UP!" Rukia shouted, silencing both men simultaneously. She stood, seeing as how she was barely clinging on to the end of the bench anyway. "I can't have dinner with either of you, like I said Ichigo, I've got something I need to do!" she snapped coldly, before turning on her heel and starting to walk away.

Ichigo was wrestling with Renji now. "You didn't even say where you were going!?" he called after her as he shoved Renji away.

"Do I need your permission?" she snapped without checking her stride.

"You tell him Rukia!.." Renji enthused with a grin on his face, pushing back against Ichigo "You're your own woman!"

"You creep!" Ichigo snarled, using all of his weight to push Renji to the far end of the bench.

The two men huffed and sat in silence, looking out over the canal. Now that Rukia was gone, Ichigo started to feel a little uneasy.

_Well this couldn't get any more awkward..._

"So..." Renji said, turning to him, "Do _you _want to get some dinner?"

_Its more awkward! _

Ichigo growled, still pissed off the Renji had not only interrupted him when he was about to...well he didn't know what he was about to say, but for also scaring Rukia off.

He sighed, "Yeah...all right"

With that they stood, "Only because you're paying through, right?" Ichigo said as he fell into step beside Renji.

"I never agreed to that!" Renji protested, "I thought _you_ were going to buy Rukia's dinner?"

"Can't!" Ichigo replied bluntly, "I really haven't got much money left..."

"I knew it!" Renji laughed.

* * *

Grammatical errors ahoy in that last chapter. That's what I get for proof-reading in a hurry, my apologies. Hope this chapter was enjoyable, I don't know why but I really enjoyed writing it. Thanks for reading!


	9. Back and Forth

"Ichi-nii?" Yuzu called from outside Ichigo's bedroom door. She waited for an answer, under her arm she had some clean sheets for his bed. She usually let Ichigo take care of his own room out of respect for his privacy, but it had been hot lately and he had been out all day with Rukia.

Not to mention that Renji had slept in his bed, she thought, somewhat irritated as she gently knocked on his door. Deciding he definitely wasn't in she decided to go ahead. She slowly opened Ichigo's bedroom door just to be on the safe side, "Ichi-nii?" she called again as she put her head around the door.

Nothing.

She pushed the door all the way open and turned the light on, Ichigo had made his bed but that wasn't unusual. Placing the clean sheets on the floor she started pulling the light duvet off the bed and began removing the cover.

She stopped, a strange odour had caught her attention but no sooner had she noticed it, it had gone. She shrugged and continued removing the top sheet.

There it was again!

Yuzu breathed deeply, able to smell it much more clearly this time. Her brow furrowed in confusion, it smelled just like...

She was sniffing the air intently now, like a dog who had picked up someone's scent. She was slowly bending closer to the bed, homing in on the strange smell. Eventually, figuring out what her brain was trying to tell her, she lifted the underside of Ichigo's duvet to her nose and inhaled.

Shock and panic registered on her face. It couldn't be!?

She had to be sure. She grabbed Ichigo pillow and sniffed. Yes it was here too! Plus what smelled like coconut shampoo which she knew Ichigo didn't use.

Panicking now, she pulled off the duvet to inspect the bottom sheet. The smell was strongest here. She stood, her hand shooting to her mouth, the implications of this discovery pelting her brain. This meant one of two things, either Ichigo had started wearing Rukia's perfume, or...

"DAD!" she yelled.

* * *

Unaware of the drama developing at home, Ichigo was just leaving yet another fast food restaurant. He couldn't help wrinkling his nose as he stepped outside, this definitely wasn't one of Karakura's most prosperous neighborhoods, not that Renji seemed to mind as he followed Ichigo out, he seemed right at home. Unlike Rukia his Rukongai roots were obvious.

Renji exhaled loudly, patting his stomach as he walked. "Wow! I'm full...that was good!" he enthused.

Ichigo was less impressed. "It really wasn't, I have not eaten well today..." he groaned, suddenly appreciating how good Yuzu's cooking was all the more. "That's what I get for letting you pick the place! Is this where you were going to take Rukia?" he snapped, waving a hand at his surroundings, choosing not to mention where he had taken her for breakfast.

"I didn't hear you complaining, besides you paid!" Renji replied.

Ichigo stopped walking. "What? No I didn't!"

"Well then you might want to keep walking!" Renji called over his shoulder as he rounded to the corner at the end of the street.

Ichigo didn't need telling twice, he glanced back at the restaurant just in time to see the girl who had served them step outside and look around. He jumped around the corner before she spotted him.

"What is Rukia doing anyway?" Renji asked Ichigo once he had caught up.

"I don't know...", Ichigo huffed, checking over his shoulder to make sure the girl wasn't following them. "...this is Rukia we're talking about, to be honest I thought you might know"

"Why would I know?" Renji asked. "Its not like she tells me anything..."

Ichigo studied Renji's face, he suddenly looked miserable.

"She works so hard..." Renji said, looking at the pavement. "Following Aizen's defeat she threw herself into her work, she was at it constantly, 'twenty-four-seven' as you humans would say"

"Sounds like her" Ichigo replied.

Renji laughed, "Yeah, that's what I thought at first, I figured that in her eyes, it was the duty that was expected of a noble following the crisis Soul Society had been through."

Sensing that Renji wasn't done, Ichigo said nothing.

"But even after six months or so, she was still at it, only she was Lieutenant by now..." Renji continued, scratching the back of his neck absent-mindedly. "I never saw her, only fleeting conversations as we passed each other, she was always in a hurry..."

He looked Ichigo in the eye.

"...and always distant." he finished. He lapsed into silence now, something was clearly troubling him. Ichigo wasn't sure what he should say, only that he should probably say something.

"She's always been a pain in the ass..." Ichigo said finally, trying to brush it off. "You should have seen her when I first became a Shinigami, work, work, work, I got no rest" he sighed.

Renji said nothing, if anything he looked more miserable than before. "I guess that's Rukia..." he breathed after some time, "She needs to be forced to take a break."

With that, Renji slapped Ichigo on the shoulder and turned away from him, "See ya, Ichigo, I'll be at Urahara's if anything comes up!"

"Oh, yeah, see ya" Ichigo called after him, before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

_What was that all about?_

* * *

"You can't be serious?" Karin said, a look of disgust on her face as Yuzu thrust Ichigo's sheets into her face. She always knew her father was mad but Yuzu was a new development.

"Smell it Karin! You'll agree with us I promise" Yuzu insisted.

"I really don't want to smell my brothers sweaty sheets!"

"Oh come on Karin..." Isshin said, sounding breathless, "This is important!"

Yuzu held the sheet closer, "They aren't sweaty, just tell us what you smell"

"Oh fine!" Karin snapped, taking a quick sniff and then backing off again. "Okay yeah, they smell a bit girly so what?"

Yuzu and Isshin looked at her blankly.

"Oh come on!.." Karin sighed, "You two are crazy, this doesn't prove Ichigo had a girl in his bed, much less Rukia!"

"But Karin..." Yuzu said, holding up a bottle of perfumed deodorant and spraying some in the air, "This is Rukia's deodorant, she got it at the store, you can't tell me it doesn't smell the same"

Karin didn't want to smell it, but the necessary process of breathing made it inevitable. "Yes I guess it does smell pretty similar".

Yuzu and Isshin started to get excited again.

"But!.." Karin said, interrupting their celebrations. "She could've just sat on his bed, she sits on his bed all the time!"

"This is his bottom sheet Karin! Ichigo always makes his bed, you know how fussy he is" Yuzu exclaimed, "...and I checked his pillow and duvet, its on there too!"

Isshin piped up, "You saw how tired he was this morning! My boy is finally a man! MOTHER!" he cried, throwing himself at Masaki's poster on the wall.

Yuzu was grinning from ear to ear, "And then they disappear off together this morning, and they're gone all day!" she said, adding a slightly less perverted angle to her fathers joy.

Karin tuned them out, she was lost in thought. She wasn't stupid, ever since she had started seeing ghosts she hadn't been able to sleep the whole night through. She was awake last night when Rukia's phone had beeped and she had crept out the room, and she was still awake when she returned an hour later.

Had Ichigo text her? No, even for him that would be stupid. She knew the truth behind Ichigo and Rukia's relationship, so it doesn't mean they were up to anything in an intimate sense. Although, her brothers change in attitude the minute she showed up was obvious, not to mention she also knew he was looking at girls differently now.

She couldn't help being a little angry with Rukia. Even though it wasn't intended, it was possible she was unwittingly playing with Ichigo's emotions. It was clear he missed her when she wasn't around.

And she would be leaving again, that was certain.

* * *

Ichigo though over his conversation with Renji as he walked home. It was fully dark by now, and for the first time in days the temperature wasn't uncomfortable, so he was in no hurry as he switched the main road for the quieter side streets on his way back to the clinic.

Ichigo wasn't stupid, Renji's feelings towards Rukia had always been obvious. They were close, they grew up together and it was clear they considered each other as best friends, but Ichigo got the feeling that Renji now wanted more, or perhaps he always had.

Ichigo had never felt threatened by Renji and Rukia's relationship before but something about the thought that Renji might wanted to take things further with her caused him to feel an uncharacteristic stab of...was it jealousy?

Turning the corner at the end of the street, Ichigo ended up paralleling the canal again. It didn't take long for this thoughts to drift back to his conversation with Rukia on the bench. What was he about to say to her? He didn't really know and for the first time he felt something akin to relief that Renji had interrupted when he did, had he not Ichigo possibly could have done something stupid.

Ichigo sighed, he was doing it again. When he was with Rukia, it was as if he was a different person, in those moments he knew that just like Renji, he too wanted more. When he was alone however, he felt the opposite. It was as if Rukia had him under some sort of spell since she had returned, Ichigo was finding it very hard to control himself when she was around.

It also didn't help that she was, literally, encouraging him with flirtatious gestures and remarks. Well, as flirtatious as they got for Rukia anyway. Had his relationship with Rukia changed? Ichigo couldn't answer that, trying to understand what Rukia may or may not be feeling or thinking right now was an impossible task. There was once a time he could read her like a book, but he was finding that difficult right now, had their time apart affected their relationship for the worse?

Ichigo shook his head angrily, he needed to stop trying to understand Rukia, she wasn't the problem here, she hadn't changed, it was him who was different now. He just needed to spend more time with her, that was all. Only then could he try and get his head around his own emotions.

_What is Rukia doing anyway?_

It had been hours since Rukia had left, but she assured him she was coming back. What time that would be remained to be seen. As long as she remembered it was school tomorrow.

It was at that moment that Ichigo remembered what date it would be tomorrow. July 15th, his birthday. That gave him an idea, maybe his dinner plans with Rukia weren't scuppered after all. He picked up his pace, suddenly in a hurry to get home.

Ichigo always made it clear that he wanted nobody to make a big deal out of his birthday, but his father being...well, his father, always insisted on taking the family out for dinner to celebrate, and it had become somewhat of a tradition. Even though it wouldn't be a date in the technical sense, it would still give Ichigo a perfect excuse to take Rukia out.

* * *

Thirty-four minutes later, Ichigo was back in his room. He had decided to bite the bullet and ask his father directly if Rukia could come to dinner. Isshin was always adamant that Ichigo's birthday dinner was strictly a family event, so Ichigo hadn't been expecting him to be too keen on the idea of Rukia coming.

"Of course Rukia-chan can come!" his father had beamed. Ichigo had been little taken aback but glad that he had gotten what he had been after with a minimum of fuss. If anything, his father had been insistent that Rukia accompany them.

After that it had gotten a little weird, his father had started spouting nonsense about how Rukia might one day be family. Even though the idea sounded, well fantastic to Ichigo, it had still caused much embarrassment and a little violence. Ichigo was just glad Rukia wasn't present.

With a tired, yet contented sigh, Ichigo sat heavily on his bed. Suddenly feeling exhausted, he laid down and shut his eyes. Despite it not even being ten o'clock in the evening, a sleepless night followed by a busy day made Ichigo confident he would have no trouble sleeping tonight.

His eyes drifted shut, but he was still vaguely aware of his surroundings. The sound of traffic on the street and the TV from downstairs. Kon, snoring on his desk chair, and the fact that his bed no longer smelled of Rukia.

_Yuzu must have changed the sheets_...Ichigo thought drowsily.

His eyes snapped open.

_SHIT!_

* * *

"Im sorry Inoue-san..." Uryu started, arguing his case for the third time that evening, "But if you insist on going out for groceries at this time of night, then I insist on coming with you" he said as he walked beside Orhime, carrying her late-night shopping for her.

"That's very kind of you Ishida-kun, but you really didn't need to come all the way down here for me, this is a safe neighborhood!" she beamed back.

Uryu opened his mouth to argue, but it was at that moment that Ichigo's voice floated faintly on the wind.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU OLD MAN!"

"Safe indeed..." Uryu deadpanned, turning towards the distant voice.

"Was that Kurosaki-kun?" Inoue asked.

"Without a doubt..." he replied, even though they were a few streets away from the Kurosaki Clinic, they could hear every screamed word.

"Its only natural son!" it was Isshin this time, his voice echoing down the road, "I just want all the details!"

"And I told you!..." Ichigo screamed back, "NOTHING HAPPENED!"

If his father replied it was lost to the sound of shattering glass.

"Well it seems the situation is normal in the Kurosaki household..." Uryu quipped. "Although they really need to start closing the windows before they kill each other"

"Shouldn't we go and help?" Inoue asked, genuinely concerned. More glass shattered in the distance, followed quickly by the wail of a police siren. Clearly one of the neighbors must be new, as they didn't know this was normal for the Kurosaki's.

"I would really rather not get in between Kurosaki and his father..." Uryu breathed, "Now lets get you home!"

* * *

Ichigo was awake, he was aware of that. He was also aware it was still dark. Why was he awake? It was at that point that he could smell the reason, and it wasn't his bedding.

_Rukia!_

"Too slow!" he cried, mimicking her greeting from the night before. He sat upright and held up his arms to fend off an attack from his own combat pass.

An attack that never came.

"Ichigo?" Rukia whispered.

"Rukia?..." Ichigo replied, he could make her out now from the ambient light coming in through the window. She was stood by his bed, her pale skin reflecting the glare from the street lighting.

"What time is it?" he whispered.

"Its not late..." Rukia replied, "I just didn't want to wake your sisters"

"So you decided to wake me instead?"

He couldn't see her face clearly but he could well imagine the look she was giving him. He wanted it to sound like he annoyed, even though deep down he was just pleased to see her again.

_Which is pathetic!_

"I told them you might not be back tonight..." he sighed, "Where have you been?"

"Never mind that, can I sleep here?"

Ichigo reddened, luckily the darkness hid his blush.

"I really don't think you should be getting in my bed!" he hissed, clearly flustered. His 'discussion' with his father, that had resulted in two broken windows and a visit from the police, was still fresh in his memory.

"I meant your closet you idiot!" Rukia snapped.

"Oh! Yeah..." Ichigo sighed, relieved, if a little disappointed. "Sure..". He turned the bedside lamp on as Rukia padded over to the closet. She was still wearing her clothes from the day, although she had pyjamas and her school uniform under her arm. Ichigo couldn't help noticing a pink tinge to her normally pale legs, clearly she had caught the sun today. The white cotton of her shirt clung to her slim waist. Ichigo risked a smirk, he could get used to Rukia's more revealing wardrobe.

Rukia opened to the closet door and peered inside. "What happened to the bedding?" she asked, a little haughtily.

"Well shit Rukia, its been a few years..." Ichigo sighed, flopping back onto his pillow.

"Yeah I can see you've done a lot with the space..." she replied sarcastically.

"Shut up!..." he hissed, "Its in the drawer..."

"Oh, this drawer?" Rukia asked, grabbing the handle of the top drawer. Too late did Ichigo realise his mistake.

He sat up, "Shit! No Rukia not that...!" he started.

Rukia pulled it open.

"...drawer.." he finished weakly.

_This is bad!_

The room lapsed into silence. Ichigo could only see Rukia's back as she started down at the manga-filled drawer. Ichigo was sweating now, he was ashamed to admit that he felt like crying. What did he do? Roll over and pretend to be asleep? No, that would only mean he wouldn't be able to see the books as they were thrown at him.

Jump from the window? No, this was the night he had chosen to close it in a vain effort to give the air conditioning a chance. _Idiot!_

"Rukia...?" he whispered. She was still staring at the drawer, motionless. Ichigo slipped out of bed, slowly walking towards her.

"Err...Rukia? He tried again, still nothing. His mind was racing, she must think he was some kind of weirdo, hoarding gushy, romantic and apparently occasionally erotic, literature, like he was some kind of pervert. He slowly leant round beside her, trying to get eye-to-eye.

However, when he saw her face, it wasn't one of horror, but of unbridled excitement. It was then she looked him dead in the eye.

There it was, there was the face he had imagined when he started buying the books. Ichigo felt a flush of warmth in his gut.

Rukia exploded into a flurry of motion and Ichigo, thinking it was the opening of an attack, jumped back. Instead, Rukia was gathering mangas into her arms and dumping them into her sleeping area, then she retrieved the bedding from the correct drawer and jumped into the closet.

"Goodnight Ichigo!" she beamed, and the door slid shut, but not all the way.

Ichigo got back into bed feeling very...well he didn't know how he felt but he liked it. "Night, Rukia" he breathed, leaning over the turn off the lamp. It was at the moment that Rukia hopped back out the closet, grabbed the lamp from his desk and, stretching the cable as far as it would go, took it back into the closet with her, bathing the room in a muted, orange glow.

Ichigo smiled and shut his eyes again. Perhaps it was something to do with an awareness of Rukia being in his closet, but he was very content right now.

Within minutes he was asleep.

* * *

Well, long time since an update. Decided to take a short vacation and then was absorbed in work stuff, sorry about that (If anyone even cared :P)

Either way, I really wanted to get this up and get back to writing, so fingers crossed the next update will be along soon. Thanks!


	10. July 15th

Ichigo awoke after the best night's sleep he had had in months. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawning loudly, his hair had plastered itself to the side of his face after what was clearly another warm night, not that he had noticed for once. He looked around blearily and saw that the closet door was ajar and the memories of the previous night came back to him.

He couldn't see Rukia, but his eye was quickly drawn to the lamp and untidy pile of garments on the floor where they had clearly been pushed through the gap in the door. Ichigo recognised the white strappy top that had hugged her body so tightly yesterday and he couldn't stop the mental image of Rukia taking it off that flashed through his adolescent mind.

Quietly cursing himself, he stood as silently as he could and tip toed over to the closet to retrieve the desk lamp. He cocked and ear to the gap in the door, he couldn't hear anything. Ichigo glanced at the clock, it wasn't late, but it wasn't early either, he should probably wake Rukia.

"...Rukia?" he whispered.

Nothing.

"Rukia?" he persisted, louder.

This time the closet door shot open and a very awake, not to mention fully clothed Rukia shot daggers back at Ichigo.

"What!?", she demanded.

"Nothing...just making sure you were up!" Ichigo protested. "You coming down for breakfast?"

"I don't think that would be a good idea, do you?" she snapped back.

"Why not?"

"Think about it Ichigo..." Rukia sighed, folding her pyjamas and putting them to one side next to some well-read looking mangas, "I come down to breakfast with your family, having _clearly _not slept in your sisters room last night, how would you explain that?"

Ichigo paled, that was a very good point, sneaking food up to her like he used to do wasn't an option any more either, Yuzu would see straight through it.

As Rukia hopped down from the closet, Ichigo appraised her in her uniform for the first time in a long time.

_Has that skirt gotten shorter? _

"I'll go on ahead" she replied, heading for the window. Ichigo opened his mouth to say that he would bring her something to eat later, but before he could, she was gone.

_Well, that was weird..._

Ichigo stared thoughtfully at the window, Rukia seemed in a colder mood than usual this morning. He just sighed and shook his head, it was too early to try and understand girls, especially Rukia. Deciding a quick shower might be in order, Ichigo turned for the door, but something caught his eye. He glanced down to see Rukia's clothes from yesterday were still on the floor.

Quickly coming to the conclusion that leaving Rukia's clothes on the floor of _his _bedroom probably wasn't the best idea, he scooped them up. Trying to ignore how nice they smelled even after she had worn them all day, he opened the closet door to put them back inside. Unfortunately for Ichigo, it was at that moment that a white bra fell from inside the folds of the top, landing on the floor by his feet.

Panic, that was Ichigo's initial reaction, he rapidly backed up and cowered as if the offending garment was going to explode. What did he do?

_You're overreacting Ichigo, just pick it up! _

He still had Rukia's clothes in his hand. He pulled to the top over it to act as sort of glove and approached the carelessly discarded bra.

"Dammit Rukia...be more careful..." he hissed as he bent down to pick it up. Ichigo found himself begging that his sister wouldn't pick that moment to come in to wake him, or worse still, his father.

Blushing furiously, he grabbed the bra with the top, hastily wrapped it all in a bundle and pitched it overarm into the depths of the closet, which his slammed shut with his foot.

Finally, Ichigo gave himself a couple of good hard slaps and decided that this morning's shower would be a cold one.

* * *

"See you!" Ichigo called as he shut the front door, slinging his school bag over his shoulder as he did so. After a strangely trying morning, Yuzu had made him his favourite breakfast as a birthday treat, before dropping the subject completely as per the general agreement.

Oddly, only Mizuiro was waiting for him outside. "Morning" Ichigo said as he approached him.

Mizuiro dropped his headphones from his ears and smiled, "Morning Ichigo, Happy Birthday" he replied, getting formalities out of the way as he knew Ichigo too well.

"Yeah yeah..." Ichigo grunted, "Say where is..."

"Happy Birthday, Ichigo!" Keigo exclaimed, answering Ichigo's unspoken question. He leapt from his ambush point atop a nearby wall in an attempt to catch his friend off guard and cling to his back.

"Thanks..." Ichigo sighed as he calmly ducked. Keigo sailed clear over Ichigo head and crashed into the pavement face first. "Good try by the way" Ichigo quipped before turning and starting the walk to school.

Mizuiro poked Keigo with his toe. "You okay, Asano-san?"

Keigo sprang to his feet, giving his friend the thumbs up. "Barely felt it!" he spluttered through the blood that was pouring from his nose.

Once they caught up with Ichigo, the three of them walked in silence for a while. Mostly because the most talkative of the bunch had a tissue pressed to his face in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Eventful weekend, Ichigo?" Mizuiro asked nonchalantly, not looking up from his phone.

Ichigo's heart missed a beat. That was a fairly normal question but something about the way he said it didn't sound right.

"Pretty dull, why?" he replied warily.

"Noticed a couple of broken windows on your house..."

Ichigo relaxed. "Oh that, it was just some kids..." he lied.

"I swear Ichigo...", Keigo said as they rounded the corner at the end of the street, his voice muffled by tissue, "...weird stuff always happens to your h..." he trailed off. Rukia was just ahead, waiting for them, chatting with Inoue who had clearly already caught up with her.

"K...K...Kuchiki-san!" Keigo stammered, being uncharacteristically polite. He dropped his tissue, his face now covered in tears instead of blood. "Never has there been a more agreeable sight on a Monday morning!" he cried, running towards the two girls, arms out.

He didn't get far, Ichigo had a firm hold on the collar of his shirt. "Morning." he grunted to the pair, he had already seen Rukia but that wasn't public knowledge.

"Kuchiki-san..." Mizuiro said in greeting, "...strange coincidence, you being here today of all days!" he finished, shooting a rapid glance at Ichigo.

Ichigo let go of Keigo, who was reunited with the pavement with a dull thud. He glared at Mizuiro with a mixture of anger and suspicion.

"What's special about today?" Rukia asked, quite innocently.

Inoue briefly looked stunned, "Today is Kurosaki-kun's birthday!..." she replied, if she was shocked that Rukia didn't know, she covered it well.

"It is!?" Rukia looked horrified, "Oh, I didn't...know that..."

"Of all people I thought you would've known that Rukia-chan!" Keigo piped up, somehow he had crawled along the pavement unnoticed and was taking advantage of the girls short skirts.

"YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!" Ichigo roared, grabbing Keigo by the leg and dragging him into within beating range.

Inoue turned her back on the sounds of Ichigo bludgeoning Keigo to within an inch of his life and steered Rukia in the same direction. Mizuiro had taken a very well timed phone call and had walked ahead.

"Don't worry Kuchiki-san!" Inoue said cheerily, "Kurosaki-kun really doesn't care, he doesn't even like his family making a fuss!"

"Oh, I see" Rukia replied as she glanced over her shoulder, feeling the urge to join in on the kicking that Ichigo was giving Keigo. She already felt bad about being short with him earlier and made a mental note to apologise to Ichigo later.

The rest of the walk, or limp in Keigo's case, was fairly uneventful and before they knew it they were in amongst the crush of students filing into school, the vast majority of which were high on pre-summer excitement. With summer so close Ichigo couldn't imagine the teachers were going to get much out of their pupils, maybe Ochi-sensei would cut him a little slack, Ichigo thought optimistically.

He glanced at Rukia, she didn't look at all nervous, which was strange. Ichigo wouldn't want to be in her position, but looked forward to hearing her excuses regarding why she was enrolling in school for one week.

"Good luck..." he whispered, but it wasn't sincere, it was dripping with smug sarcasm.

"I won't need it" she breathed.

Rukia strode into the classroom like she owned it, heading straight for her old desk. Ichigo followed closely. They passed a few students on the way, some he knew, others whose names he could never remember, but when each of them looked up the greeting was the same.

"Morning, Kuchiki-san!"

And that was it, Ichigo sat at his desk, more than a little confused. Even a couple of the girls who knew Rukia from before such as Michiru and Mahana turned and waved to her as if nothing was wrong.

Ichigo wasn't expecting anyone to know her, he thought everyone had lost their memories of her when she left the first time, but everyone was acting as if she had always been there. Uryu and Chad walked in, both their eyes fell on Rukia at the same time and they waved in greeting, but that wasn't unusual.

They were followed by Ochi-Sensei, if anyone would notice something was wrong it would be her, Ichigo thought. Again however, she read Rukia's name off the register and acknowledged her presence without any hesitation before starting the class.

"Right!" Ochi-sensei said, clapping her hands to get the attention of the class "Seeing as it's the last week of school I'm sure none of you are eager to do much work!"

The class cheered in agreement.

"Well bad luck! We'll be starting with Algebra!" she laughed, turning to the board and ignoring the groans from her students.

Ichigo slowly leant closer to Rukia. "Rukia..." he hissed. She didn't respond, she was looking at the formulae the teacher was drawing on the board, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Rukia!", Ichigo whispered more urgently.

"What!?" she hissed back, not taking her eyes off the board.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Don't ask me!" she whispered back sharply, "I've never understood algebra"

"Not that!" Ichigo snapped, nearly falling from his chair as he leaned closer. He did a quick check over his shoulder for eavesdroppers. "I mean, why is everyone acting like you never left?"

Rukia still didn't turn to look at him, "Because as far as they are concerned, I never did"

"You erased their memories?"

"Not really...", Rukia sighed, "It's more a form of memory manipulation"

"Say again?"

"I'll explain later!" Rukia snapped, attempting to cut the conversation short as she had spotted something Ichigo hadn't.

Too late.

"Kurosaki!" Ochi-sensei snapped.

Ichigo sat bolt upright, suddenly aware of how far across the gangway he had been leaning. "Yes sensei!?"

"Whisper sweet nothings to Kuchiki later! Pay attention!" she barked. This sent a ripple of laughter through the class, in which Rukia participated.

"And you! Kuchiki!" the teacher barked, clearly not finished. This caught Rukia off guard who suddenly looked terrified.

"Y...yes?" she stammered.

It was Ichigo's turn to chuckle.

"You in particular need to pay attention to this!" Ochi-sensei said, rapping a knuckle against the board.

Having retrieved everyone's attention except for Ichigo's , the teacher continued with the class, while Ichigo continued with his old habit of looking out the window. So this was what Rukia was doing last night, making preparations so that her return to school would seem normal. He couldn't help but be a little impressed.

It was at that moment a balled up piece of paper landed on his desk. He instinctively covered it with his hand while glancing over at Rukia. Did she want the rumours to start again already?

He flattened the paper against his notebook. It read simply _'Sorry for forgetting your birthday' _finished with a doodle of a sad looking Chappy in the corner. Ichigo shook his head while he slipped the note between the pages of his book.

_What is she feeling guilty for? _

Ichigo didn't even want his family to do anything for him on his birthday, he certainly didn't expect anything from Rukia. If she felt guilty about not knowing then she was wasting her time.

After a few minutes, Ichigo became aware of that sixth sense that lets you know when you're being watched. Slowly, he turned his head to the right, expecting to find Keigo leering in Rukia's general direction. Instead it was Tatsuki's ice cold stare that was there to meet his gaze.

_Shit! Tatsuki! _

Ichigo began to sweat, he had _completely _forgotten the discussion the two of them had had on Saturday. If you could call it a discussion, Tatsuki had basically read his mind and then torn him a new one. Either way, the look she was giving him made it very apparent that she hadn't forgotten and was keen to resume their _conversation _as quickly as possible.

Trying his hardest not to look terrified, Ichigo slowly panned his gaze back to the view out of the windows. What was he going to say to her? Following their shopping trip Tatsuki had to leave to work an afternoon shift at her part time job, and once she had left Ichigo had forgotten all about the little incident outside the clothes store.

For starters, anything he said to her was going to have to be a complete lie, he wasn't about to tell her the truth. Then it struck him, she wouldn't say anything around Inoue, or Rukia for that matter, she wasn't like that. All Ichigo had to do was keep other people around him and try not to get caught in a situation that would allow Tatsuki to get him alone.

Despite having the barest outline of a plan, Ichigo felt no better about his situation and in typical fashion, it wasn't long before the lesson was over and the bell rang for morning break.

Standing, Ichigo put himself between Inoue and Rukia, a position every guy in the class would no doubt kill each other to be in. Sadly however, his not-so-well-thought-out plan was about to be foiled.

"Kurosaki! Can you hold on a moment?" Ochi-sensei barked.

_Dammit! _

"We'll go on ahead Ichigo!" Keigo called and all Ichigo could do was watch in horror as everyone who could possibly witness his murder filed out of the room, leaving him alone with the teacher.

"Don't look so frightened Kurosaki!" his teacher said, clearly misreading his panicked expression. "You probably think I'm being unreasonable, but I just want you to pass your exams!"

Ichigo turned to face her, wondering where this was going.

"I can to help you with that!" she continued, "So on that subject...do you have something for me?"

Ichigo blinked once, twice.

"You mean like...a bribe?" he said.

Ochi-sensei looked at him blankly, unable to believe the words that had come out of his mouth. "You can give me money if you want Kurosaki but it won't help your grades, I was referring to the homework I set you on Friday"

"Oh!" Ichigo sighed as realisation dawned, "Yeah its right here". He reached into his bag and handed his work over to the teacher.

"No way..." Ochi-sensei breathed, "You actually did it..."

"Is that a problem?" Ichigo asked, confused again.

"Not at all!" she replied, choosing to not inform Ichigo that all the teachers took bets on how much homework they could set a select few of the more difficult students, just as an experiment to see how much they could get out of excited, distracted kids so close to the end of term. Ichigo had unwittingly won the pot for her.

Ichigo turned and left the room, eager to get back to Rukia and the others a quickly as possible.

However he hadn't got far down the deserted corridor when...

"Ichigo!" Tatsuki called from behind him.

She had waited for him, of course she had waited for him. Ichigo cringed and turned around slowly. She didn't look impressed as she walked towards him, Ichigo desperately tried to think of something to say.

"Tatsuki look, if this is about Saturday then..." he started.

"Will you shut up and let me talk!?" she snapped, interrupting him.

Ichigo braced himself for round two.

"Im sorry..." Tatsuki said.

_What?_

"Huh?" was all Ichigo could manage in reply.

"Listen..." Tatsuki said, dropping her gaze to the floor. "I had no right going off at you way I did"

Ichigo just listened, he had seen many sides to Tatsuki in the past, but this wasn't one of them.

Tatsuki checked around her for anyone who might be listening before continuing.

"You and Rukia..." she said, "You've been through more than I could ever imagine and whatever the situation is between you two, I get that it's complicated". She looked back up at Ichigo. "Whatever you may or may not feel for her, it's none of my business and it wasn't my place to ask you about it"

Ichigo just smiled, despite the fact he hadn't remembered until just now, it was good to know Tatsuki wasn't angry at him.

"You don't have to explain yourself to anyone..." she smiled, "Least of all me!"

"Thanks Tatsuki" Ichigo replied.

Tatsuki just nodded, then looked around, feeling self conscious. "Right! If you ever make me say something like that again I'll be forced to kill you!" she snapped, before walking past him.

"But..." she said, slowing her pace and turning to face him again. "_If _you did want to talk about anything, I will offer as unbiased an opinion as I can" she finished, before setting off again.

Ichigo smiled again, he didn't need to ask her what she meant by _unbiased._

"Oh yeah!..." Tatsuki called from the end of the corridor, "Happy Birthday!"

Ichigo waved her off, "Yeah whatever!"

* * *

So to sum up, I'm not dead and writers block sucks, the manga being on hiatus hasn't helped matters either but there we go. I'm hoping Rukia's return to school is as canonically correct as I can make it, I should point out that I'm disregarding all filler content from the Anime.

This is usually the point where I say "Next update soon" but that hasn't worked out so I wont say it and maybe it will happen...or something...I don't know, it's late and I'm babbling...

Thanks!


	11. July 15th - Part 2

Ichigo squirmed and fidgeted, trying desperately to get comfortable against the tree trunk he was leaning against. Today was scorching, and in the interests of everyone's health the group had decided to forgo sitting on the exposed roof and Ichigo, Rukia, Uryu, Chad, Mizuiro and Keigo ate their lunch in the shade of one of the large trees that dotted the school grounds.

Ichigo rummaged in his bag for not only his lunch but the additional food he had bought for Rukia. Following his conversation with Tatsuki he had gone to get her some lunch as he knew she had left that morning in too much of a hurry to pack any herself.

He glanced over at her, she was sat in the shade, her legs folded under her as she watched everyone eat, seemingly only just realising she had no food. Ichigo couldn't help but take a second to admire her again, it was one of those brief moments when he realised how much he'd missed her these past few years. Ichigo returned his attention to his bag, he still had some questions about this morning, not to mention many questions regarding what she had done to everyone's memories, but it was so hot that he just didn't have the energy, it could wait.

After taking his own lunch out of this bag, he placed the extra food on the ground between himself and Rukia, making it obvious that she should take it without saying out loud that he had bought it for her. He would also never admit that he couldn't stand the slightly pained expression on her face.

"So, Kuchiki..." Uryu said, breaking the silence, "...I can only assume you're here to check up on Kurosaki?"

Still midway through investigating what Ichigo had bought for her, Rukia opened her mouth to respond to the Quincies blunt question. It wasn't far from the truth, but she wanted to word it in a way that would spare Ichigo's ego. Unfortunately for her she couldn't find the words quickly enough.

"I'll take that as a yes..." Uryu said before she could utter a single word, "I can't say I'm surprised".

That got Ichigo's attention, he glared at the boy sitting across from him. "What's that supposed to mean? You saying I _need _checking on?"

Before Uryu could respond, Keigo piped up. "I wish someone would send pretty girls to look after me..." he mused, dreamily, "...you have it so easy Ichigo"

Ichigo bristled further, "She isn't looking after me! Also, no one asked your opinion."

"So..." Mizuiro said with a smirk, "You aren't denying that she's pretty then?"

Rukia and Ichigo reddened simultaneously.

"I never said that!" Ichigo spat.

"So you're calling her ugly?" Keigo replied, deciding that as Mizuiro had started the teasing then they must be pretty safe. Clearly he'd forgotten this morning's beating, Ichigo must have hit him too hard.

Sadly Ichigo had no response and silence descended, he glanced at the others for help but he was to be disappointed. Uryu just coughed and pushed his glasses up his nose and Chad had suddenly become very interested in trees.

"Kuchiki-san!" Inoue's shrill voice cut through the silence like a knife. Some way off, Inoue was stood with Tatsuki and a few of the other girls who were making their way to another part of the field. "Come eat lunch with us!" she beckoned.

"Ah...Coming!" Rukia practically beamed in reply, clearly glad to be getting away from this conversation. She grabbed her bag and without a second glance, went to join the other girls.

Ichigo could help but watch her go, slightly irritated that she was leaving because these idiots couldn't keep their mouths shut. He was very aware of a need to spend as much time with her as possible and this was the exact opposite.

"Well done Ichigo!" Keigo huffed, snapping Ichigo from his trance, "You scared off the only girl here!"

"How is that my fault again?" Ichigo replied, he was still watching Rukia go, despite his best efforts to stop looking at her. Only once she had disappeared from view did he return his attention to the others. "And you!" he said, pointed an accusatory finger at Uryu, "What was all that 'checking up on me' business?".

"Alright, why is she here then if not to check up on you?" he replied.

"She...err..." Ichigo scratched the side of his head, he had no answer. His mind flashed back to the concern he had felt regarding Rukia's orders after dinner the night she had come back, but he was so pleased to see her that he hadn't given it much thought after that. He still wasn't convinced there wasn't something else going on, but he wasn't about to share those misgivings with Ishida and the others.

"That's what I thought..." Uryu sighed, returning to his lunch.

Ichigo didn't reply, he was still deep in thought.

* * *

The rest of the day seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Before Ichigo knew it, he and Rukia were walking back to the clinic. The temperature had dropped considerably but Ichigo didn't feel any more comfortable. He was apprehensive about what he was about to ask Rukia for reasons he wasn't sure of.

He glanced down at her, she was obviously off in her own little world as she walked, Ichigo had no clue what she was thinking about but if he wanted to ask her to dinner tonight he needed to work his way round to it gradually.

"So aren't you going to explain it to me then?" Ichigo said, out of the blue.

"What's that?" Rukia replied.

"You know what!..." he scoffed, "I'm sure you're dying to tell me what you did to everyone's memories"

"Well if you _really _want to know..." Rukia said with a smirk, "I didn't erase their memories, I returned them"

"Huh?"

Rukia sighed, "I brought their old memories of me back to the surface"

Ichigo pondered that for a second, "Surely that only covers up until you left..." he said, thinking back on the day she disappeared and how everyone had forgotten about her, "...What about the last eighteen months?"

"I've obviously added a few fictitious memories to flesh out that period of time..." she replied with a shrug, like it was nothing.

"Oh yeah, obviously..." Ichigo replied sarcastically.

Rukia made to elbow him in the ribs, but it lacked its usual force, her first school day in years had been far more exhausting than she had expected.

"Hang on..." Ichigo said, a thought suddenly crossing his mind, "I thought you couldn't pick the replacement memories?"

"If you're referring to the incident with Inoue and her brother, that was a long time ago, Technology has moved on..." she replied, impressed that Ichigo had remembered something she had told him so long ago. "I can now pick and choose what memories I give to people"

"That _is_ reassuring..." Ichigo deadpanned.

They walked in silence for awhile and Ichigo again found himself thinking about Rukia's so-called 'orders'. He had mulled it over all afternoon and now he thought about it, everything seemed a bit too relaxed, which wasn't Soul Societies style. He certainly didn't feel like he was being evaluated, that was for sure. He probably should have asked Renji when he had the chance on Sunday, but it had completely slipped his mind.

He took a deep breath and decided to ask her about it.

"So, how is this mission of yours going?" he asked as casually as he could.

"Well I've only seen you fight a few Hollows but I know what to expect of you there", she said, cocking her head to one side as if deep in thought, it almost seemed to Ichigo as if she had completely forgotten about her orders herself, "Plus your school life seems pretty normal..." she finished, trailing off.

_Shit! _Ichigo thought, _does this mean she's going to leave? _

"But I guess I'll keep an eye on your for a little longer, besides Captain Ukitake said I wasn't to rush" she finished.

It was at the moment that something Renji _had _said that night came back to him.

_'She has to be forced to take a break' _

The penny suddenly dropped with a resounding clang. Perhaps this wasn't a mission at all, it seems her captain was forcing her to take some rest and this was the only way he could make her do it. He decided he wouldn't say anything, If Rukia suspected she was getting special treatment she would head back to Soul Society this instant, and that wouldn't make Ichigo happy at all. Even so, something still didn't add up, Rukia was very intelligent, surely she would have seen through this?

"And I am sorry about forgetting your birthday..." Rukia said, quite suddenly.

"Would you quit that?" Ichigo sighed. "You can't forget something you didn't know In the first place, besides I really don't care"

"Inoue said as much..." she replied, "But I think it's only natural I make it up to you, that's what humans do isn't it?"

The words 'make it up to you' sent Ichigo's mind running away with him again. The possibilities...

_Stop it! _

Suddenly, Ichigo spotted his opening and decided to make the most of it," Fine, If you really want to do something for me, you can come out to dinner with us tonight" he said.

"Us?"

"Yeah...my Dad always takes the family out to dinner on my birthday"

"If it's just family, he might not want me there..." she said matter-of-factly.

"It's cool, I already asked." Ichigo replied, suddenly feeling she might read into that too much he moved on, "It won't be anything formal, I'm sure you get enough of that back at Kuchiki manor"

Rukia nodded in agreement, Ichigo wasn't wrong and dinner with his family did sound nice.

So why did she feel so nervous?

* * *

"Are you sure you want me to come?" Rukia asked Isshin for the fourth time as Yuzu pulled her towards the stairs by the hand. They had barely been home an hour but Isshin was insisting they get ready for dinner.

"Of course Rukia-chan!" Isshin beamed from the doorway. "Its Ichigo's birthday and you're an important part of his life!". Ichigo, who was stood next to his father, turned red faced. "Besides..." Isshin continued, "It's the least I can do for the future mother of my grandch-_Ooof!_" he was cut short by his son's knee connecting with his gut.

"Come on Rukia-chan!..." Yuzu said, dragging a similarly red-faced Rukia away from a beating she wanted to be involved in for the second time that day. "...let's go pick what to wear!".

"Take your time!" Ichigo growled as he wrestled his father in the hallway. Once the girls had gone he decided to explain a few things. "Would you stop that!?" he grunted as Isshin attempted to escape a headlock.

"Stop what?", came the strangled reply from Isshin as he tried to loosen his sons arm from around his neck. Ichigo let him go and shoved him away.

"Saying shit like that in front of Rukia!" Ichigo snapped as he turned and walked into the kitchen, his father close on his heels.

"I don't see what you're so ashamed of..." Isshin sighed, rubbing his neck. "You two are...you know...aren't you?"

_Oh I can't believe he said that..._

"NO!" Ichigo yelled back, before he dropped the tone, he didn't want the police around again. "I told you, nothing happened!"

"But you want it to, right?" Isshin said with a sly wink.

"I'm not having this discussion with you!" Ichigo retorted, storming out of the kitchen, forgetting what he went in there for to begin with.

"Good, then have it with her!" Isshin called back.

_That's it, I'm going to have to kill him!_

Ichigo stomped up to his room and slammed the door, looking less forward to this evening with every passing second. He wanted his father to be normal for just a few hours, that was all.

It was hard enough that he couldn't make his mind up about Rukia, he didn't need it from his Dad as well. The one time he actually decides got involved in Ichigo's life and it had to be now. Ichigo hurled his schoolbag at the wall in anger.

Ichigo sat heavily on his bed with a sigh. His father hadn't been wrong, he _did _want to be with Rukia at that present moment in time, but he seemed to be changing his mind about that about fifty times a day. He really couldn't think or act rationally when she was around, which had never happened to him before.

Ichigo ran his hands through his hair in frustration, he felt like screaming, girls were complicated enough, Shinigami girls were even worse. Maybe he should have had a girlfriend before now, perhaps he would be a little bit more prepared.

Deciding this time would be better spent getting ready, he did just that and ten minutes later he was back downstairs, dressed in a short sleeved shirt and black jeans. Even though he said it wasn't formal, he decided to make more of an effort than he usually would.

Ichigo tried to sit and relax, but he was suddenly very anxious. He kept trying to tell himself that this was just dinner with his family, and Rukia just happened to be coming along.

_It's not a date! _

Rukia was still upstairs with Yuzu when his father reappeared, dressed in a dark blue suit without a tie and Karin, would was dressed as she always was which was no surprise. She sat next to Ichigo and snatched the remote from his hand as he wasn't really watching the television anyway, his eyes never left the stairs for long enough.

"Rukia will be down in a second..." Karin sighed, "Don't look so nervous".

Ichigo shot her a glare, it seemed everyone in his family could read his mind. It was then he realised that he was unconsciously bouncing his knee up and down on the ball of his foot, an obvious sign of nervousness. He placed a hand on his knee to still the nervous tick.

"Rukia-chan, Yuzu!" Isshin called, "Taxi's here!"

"Coming!" Yuzu called back, and Ichigo could quite clearly hear two sets of feet on the stairs.

Karin stood and brushed past him, "Good luck..." she whispered sarcastically to him and she did so.

"What do you mean, good lu..." he started to ask, but completely forgot what he was talking about when he laid eyes on Rukia. She was wearing a deep purple halter top that matched her eyes. It hugged her body tightly at the sides but was low enough at the front to cause Ichigo to avert his gaze, unfortunately in doing so he realised her legs were sheathed in the dreaded jeans.

_Oh damn..._

Rukia tilted her head to catch his eye, "Everything all right?"

Ichigo ran his gaze back up her body before getting eye contact, something he regretted instantly.

"Yeah, fine..." he breathed, feeling her spell wash over him again.

_I should really tell her she looks nice..._

Ichigo shook that thought from his head, that was never going to happen. Rukia turned and headed for the front door. As she turned her back on him , once again Ichigo couldn't stop his eyes from sliding down. Her back was exposed, Ichigo took in the soft lines of her shoulder blades and her pale skin. The urge to touch her was back, stronger than ever. He felt the now painfully familiar pull in his gut, every fibre of his being was screaming at him to take hold of her.

His eyes dropped again and he just watched her jean-clad rear as she made her way to the door. He felt dirty, watching her like this, _thinking _about her like this, almost as if he was dishonouring her.

Ichigo balled his hands into tight fists.

_Stop it Ichigo, STOP IT! _


	12. Dinner Drama

_What is Ichigo's problem? _

Rukia watched him as he stood there, staring at the floor. He didn't want to look at her, that was clear, but why?

She tilted her head in an attempt to catch his eye, which was hidden by his fringe, "Everything all right?" she asked. Was there something wrong with the way she looked?

His gaze came up from the floor, but not without passing over her legs, stomach, chest and finally her face, when he looked her in the eye.

"Yeah, fine..." he replied, but very flustered, she had never seen that look in his eye before. She had seen him flustered plenty of times, it wasn't exactly hard to do and she had been doing it recently for fun, but this was different. Something about the way he looked at her made her pulse quicken.

Putting that sensation from her mind, Rukia turned away from him and headed towards the door. She must admit she had felt a little nervous, the clothes were infuriatingly uncomfortable, how was anyone supposed to walk in these things? The jeans were so tight she could feel them fighting her as she moved her legs, Yuzu said that she would wear them in but that was little comfort tonight.

Why was she even wearing them? She couldn't help thinking that as she attempted to get into this Taxi thing that Ichigo's father had arranged, even sitting down was uncomfortable. Rukia had always seen clothes as functional, they kept you warm, protected your modesty and allowed you to move freely. That didn't seem to be the case in the human world, it seems if you looked good and made a spectacle of your body it didn't matter if you were cold and couldn't walk.

Even so, she had noticed these clothes had a strange effect on Ichigo. She knew these were the jeans she was wearing when she had first caught him looking at her and even though she had teased him about it yesterday, she still wasn't sure how she felt about that.

_Is that why I'm wearing them? _

Once everyone was in the car it moved off, Rukia was pleased to find it was quieter, cooler and more comfortable than the bus from the other day. She was sat in the back with Karin and Yuzu. Ichigo and his father were in the two seats in front of them, and ahead of them, someone she didn't know who seemed to be driving.

Deciding the stranger must be some kind of servant, she turned and looked out the window. She had been back in the human world for just over three days now and in that short space of time she had settled straight back in to human life, as if she never left.

She sighed inwardly, while many things were exactly the same as she remembered, other things had definitely changed, first and foremost was Ichigo. She looked at the back of his head, he was saying something to his father but over the radio the servant had on she couldn't hear what it was.

He was still Ichigo, hot-headed, arrogant, impulsive Ichigo, but he had definitely changed. It was subtle at first but Rukia picked up on it almost instantly, every so often he would look at her differently, like he just had, or he would say something completely out of character, almost playful. To her horror however, she had found herself doing the same in response. She knew she shouldn't, but she couldn't help it, the truth was she enjoyed it.

She knew Ichigo was a prude, that was obvious from the day she met him, but was that changing? Was Ichigo interested in women now? She felt silly just thinking it, like a schoolgirl. No, that wasn't Ichigo's style and even if it was, why should it affect her?

She turned and looked back out of the window. Why was this bothering her so much? She disciplined herself mentally for letting her thoughts stray into such areas. Ichigo's personal life was none of her concern, she was a Shinigami and Shinigami don't dabble in human emotions, such things were a burden. Shinigami don't get dressed up, they don't go out to dinner with a human family and they _certainly_ don't spend twenty minutes looking through clothes, trying to decide what one human male might like the best!

She looked down at herself, suddenly feeling silly, this wasn't her. The pathetic truth was, she enjoyed Ichigo's attention, she hated herself for it, but she did. Rukia looked over at him once again, thinking back over last night and the drawer full of her favourite books. Did he buy them for her? He certainly didn't read them. They must be for her, if so, why?

Taking a deep breath, she tried once again to clear her head. She had gone over this in the closet that morning, before Ichigo himself banged on the door as if he wanted to irritate her further. She knew she had been a little short with him and had felt bad for that, but it was his own fault for making her obsess over if his actions meant anything. Of course she had then learned that it was his birthday and she felt even worse.

It wasn't long before the car came to a stop and Rukia realised they had reached their destination.

"Aww Dad!" Yuzu whined, "Couldn't we have gone somewhere fancier?"

"This is fancy enough..." Karin sighed, clearly not looking forward to tonight. Rukia looked over at the restaurant, it was a broad, glass-fronted affair, through which she could see people sat at long tables. Some in pairs, others in groups, one or two were even eating alone.

"Yeah, this will do" Ichigo breathed as he pulled open to door. Despite that fact that he invited Rukia along, he seemed to be about as enthusiastic about this as Karin. As they slowly filed out of the cab, Rukia watched Ichigo's father exchange what looked like money with the servant.

After Yuzu and Karin had exited the vehicle, Rukia shuffled across the seat to the open door. To her surprise, Ichigo was stood, holding the sliding door with one hand and while extending the other towards her.

Clearly he wanted her to take his hand, although his eyes were fixed firmly on the restaurant and his face was set in a signature scowl. Deciding that getting out of the taxi in these jeans would be difficult enough by herself, she took the offered hand.

"Thank you, Ichigo" she said as she stepped onto the pavement.

"...Yeah" Ichigo snapped as he slid the door shut and the car moved away. Outwardly he appeared calm but Rukia could see his Adam's-apple was working overtime as he swallowed, was that a sign of nerves?

"I thought you liked it here, Yuzu!" Isshin cried, looking dismayed. Clearly Yuzu was still giving him a hard time over his choice of restaurant.

"I do! But seeing as it's Ichi-nii's birthday I thought we might go somewhere fancy, like last year!"

Ichigo breathed a mixture of a sigh and a scoff and rolled his eyes at Rukia. Clearly last year wasn't a happy memory for him.

As soon as Rukia stepped inside the restaurant, she began to regret her choice of clothes. The interior was heavily air conditioned and compared with the muggy, early evening heat from outside, it was almost _too _cold. She could feel goosebumps spreading up her exposed back.

They were seated at a table next to the window, Ichigo sat opposite Rukia, which seemed to be becoming a habit. Then, much to her confusion, Rukia was handed a laminated card. On it were was an assortment of food, none of which she had ever heard of, was she supposed to eat all of this?

She looked up at Ichigo for help, fortunately he seemed to be expecting it. "Its a menu..." he murmured.

Rukia's expression remained blank.

Ichigo sighed, he flicked his gaze across the table, his father was in conversation with the waiter regarding drinks. "Pick what you want..." he hissed when he was confident the others weren't listening. He didn't want to embarrass Rukia.

"I don't know what any of this is!" she hissed back, urgently.

It was true, based off the pictures it looked similar to what Yuzu cooked for her, but she never actually asked what that was, she just ate it. It was delicious, but she still didn't know what it was.

In the end, she trusted Ichigo to order for her, just like he had at breakfast the day before. He seemed to have a good idea of what she liked and what she didn't, so Rukia was confident she would enjoy her meal.

"So...Rukia-chan" Isshin beamed once the waiter had gone, "...I assume you're still unsure of when you will be on your way again?"

Ichigo shot his father a dark look for being so forthcoming.

"Oh...I err..." Rukia started, unsure of what she was supposed to say here.

"Dad!" Yuzu snapped at her father, "When you say that you make it sound like you _want _her to leave!"

"Oh not at all!" Isshin replied, holding his hands up in defence, "I was just asking! After all I'm sure Ichigo would prefer you didn't leave either, isn't that right son?"

Rukia just stared open-mouthed, her eyes flicked from Isshin, to Ichigo, who was looking less than impressed at this particular moment.

"Just because this is a public place..." Ichigo hissed through clenched teeth, "..does not mean I _wont _kill you!"

"So you aren't denying it then?" Karin deadpanned.

Rukia looked back at Ichigo, who simply cross his arms, huffed, and looked out of the window. No, he wasn't denying it. Rukia put on her best smile. "No, I don't know when I'll be leaving..." she beamed, keen to get the conversation back on its original track, "...but I wouldn't mind staying a few more days, if that is okay with you?"

"Of course you can, Rukia-chan!" Isshin replied, still watching Ichigo for a reaction.

Fortunately further conversation was cut short by the arrival of food. Rukia had no idea what the dish was and was about to start picking at it in her normal, suspicious manner but then she decided, bravely, to just trust Ichigo's instincts. Rukia took a mouthful and smiled, Ichigo had nailed it again, it was delicious. She still had no clue what she was eating, but she was very much enjoying it.

As she ate, she looked around the restaurant and watched other people doing the same thing.

There were a few family groups, but most of the other diners were couples. They looked mostly happy, except for a couple in the corner who seemed to be having somewhat of a disagreement. The male was clearly getting a stern talking to about something, he just sat, picking at his food with a face like thunder. He reminded her of Ichigo.

As for Ichigo himself, he was seemed to have recovered from his tantrum, he was now talking to Karin and looking at her meal, clearly there was something he wanted to try. Rukia smiled, despite his mood swings, he did seem happy. After all he had been through, she was glad his life was finally getting back to what it should be. Dinner out with his family should be a regular occurrence, not a special occasion.

Speaking of special occasions, Rukia was momentarily saved from her thoughts when Isshin cleared his throat, stood and raised his glass.

"Oh Dad, please don't..." Karin breathed, pulling her hat low in embarrassment, "...seriously every year?".

Isshin shushed his daughter, "I just wanted to quickly say Happy Birthday Ichigo!.." he beamed, tilting his glass in the direction of his son who was mouthing at him to sit back down, plus a few more colourful words that even Rukia could lip-read. "You're eighteen now..." his father continued, "...You're a man...and let me tell you there are a few things that a man needs!"

Ichigo gave up and instead turned and started tapping the window with his knuckle. Rukia was unsure if he was signalling for help or was gauging the thickness should he want to dive through it. She couldn't blame him, she didn't like where his fathers speech was going.

"A man needs, a good education..." Isshin said, holding up one finger, then he raised a second, "...a Good family...", he spread his arms wide as if to gesture to Yuzu and Karin. "...and..." he smiled at Rukia.

_Oh no..._

"A good woman!" he beamed.

And there it was! Ichigo face was now one of pure rage, Rukia reached forward to prise Ichigo's own glass from his hand before it shattered from his anger-fuelled grip. Unfortunately, now free of anything to hold, Ichigo seemed intent of wrapping it around his father's throat.

"Ichi-nii no!" Yuzu snapped, grabbing Ichigo's arm. "Not in public!", she had no issue with anything Isshin had said, in fact she agreed with it all, but for once she wanted a nice meal without the pair of them attempting to kill each other.

Once both Ichigo and Isshin had returned to their seats, they set about ordering dessert.

Embarrassment and attempted murder over, Rukia sighed and sat back. To being with she listened to the family talk amongst themselves but she quickly became lost in thought again. After that It wasn't long before the same, nagging thought that had plagued her mind since she had returned to the human world resurfaced. Ichigo's life might be back to normal, but as for her, this wasn't how her life should be. Despite how warm and welcoming Ichigo's family was, including his father, despite how all Ichigo's friends accepted her without question and despite how much she enjoyed Ichigo's company, she was still an outsider. She wasn't human, she was a Shinigami.

_Are you seriously on this again? _

Rukia looked around at all the other people once more, a young family was sat behind Ichigo and she watched them over his shoulder. Two parents had their young daughter sat between them, they were trying to coax her to eat something on her plate but from the look on her face, she was having none of it. Even so both the parents where smiling and laughing encouragingly, they seemed happy.

Rukia smiled too, but it was a sad smile. She couldn't lie to herself, that young family pretty much represented everything she wanted, everything she'd never had. She found herself more than ever wishing not to return to Soul Society. She was still watching the family when Ichigo tilted his head into her line of sight in order to get eye contact. He had a concerned look on his face but gave her a warm smile, well as warm as a smile got for Ichigo anyway.

She returned his smile and focused instead on her dessert, which had just been placed in front of her, which was good as it gave her something else to concentrate on. She needed to stop this, she had been here before, two years ago, and she knew that if she didn't cut away from these thoughts then she would be setting herself up for a painful fall when she had to return to the Soul Society. She was proud of what she was, she _is _proud. That was her life, and this was Ichigo's.

She glanced back up at Ichigo without raising her head, as hard as it was going to be she was going to have to try and keep him at a distance. If his views towards her had changed then fair enough but she didn't want to hurt him when she left, whenever that was. Once upon a time she would have welcomed the male attention, but that wasn't her life now.

Typically however, for the first time she wasn't exactly short on offers.

* * *

So, I was back on a roll and decided to post two chapter, because I'm such a generous person. Hope this was enjoyable, I had fun writing it.

Thoughts and critique is, as always, very welcome.


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